Viewing a single comment thread. View all comments

TylerInHiFi t1_isk72oa wrote

Reply to comment by Doctor_Impossible_ in Anglo-Saxon hall where kings and warriors dined discovered in England by unheated1

You also have grass just growing over everything and then stuff builds up between the blades of grass and creates more soil. Over a few centuries those partial millimetres of yearly build-up become centimetres and metres, depending on the location and how long it’s been left relatively undisturbed. If you’ve ever noticed someone’s lawn encroaching on the edges of a sidewalk, that’s the exact mechanism that leads to buried buildings over time. And it can happen relatively quickly.

1

PretendsHesPissed t1_iskg53d wrote

Absolutely incredible.

Is this what we can expect too if we quit maintaining out lawns and there were no other humans or other lawn-obsessed animals around to fix things?

2

TylerInHiFi t1_isl2dg1 wrote

Pretty much, yeah. If you know of any areas near you where roads have been re-routed but the old road surface was left in place you can see it in action.

1

PretendsHesPissed t1_isl4086 wrote

Oh snap. I know of many a road that, when pot hole season is upon us and the roads are falling apart left and right, you can see bricks underneath. Didn't connect the two together but that makes a lot of sense.

Cool stuff.

Kinda always wondered why they didn't remove the old roads. Figured it was due to some sort of historical reason.

2

TylerInHiFi t1_isl5ui4 wrote

I think they usually just pave over the old road because the road foundation is fine, it’s just resurfacing that’s needed and that makes paving over the old surface the cheapest and easiest option that also gets the job done as needed.

1