#HTE

Scenes From Underground (30 photos)

Caves and tunnels have always been part of human life. We’ve grown more adept at shaping these underground shelters and passages over the millennia, and today we dig for hundreds of reasons. We excavate to find both literal and cultural treasures, digging mines and unearthing archaeological discoveries. We use caverns for stable storage, for entertainment, and for an effective shelter from natural and man-made disasters. And as the planet’s surface becomes ever more crowded, and national borders are closed, tunnels provide pathways for our vehicles and for smugglers of every kind. Collected below are more recent subterranean scenes from around the world.

Members of the public visit the Main Chamber of Gaping Gill, the largest underground cavern in Britain naturally open to the surface, near Ingleton, England, on May 26, 2015. At a depth of almost 100 meters from the surface, and with a volume comparable to the nave of York Minister, trips into Gaping Gill cavern are offered twice a year to members of the public alternatively by Bradford Pothole Club and Craven Pothole Club. (Oli Scarff / AFP / Getty)
http://www.theatlantic.com/photo/2016/03/scenes-from-underground/473010/