Doctor_Impossible_ t1_isjpodx wrote on October 16, 2022 at 2:41 PM

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

Wind and water pick up enough sediment from the surrounding soil to cover sites, not counting things like buildings at low points, which will also accrue soil simply moving downhill very very slowly over decades via gravity. Sites higher up will be subjected to proportionately more weather effects via exposure, and will fairly quickly be worn down to ground level, especially after they fall into disrepair or are abandoned or destroyed, or all three.

TylerInHiFi t1_isk72oa wrote on October 16, 2022 at 4:38 PM

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.

PretendsHesPissed t1_iskg53d wrote on October 16, 2022 at 5:36 PM

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?

TylerInHiFi t1_isl2dg1 wrote on October 16, 2022 at 7:56 PM

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.

PretendsHesPissed t1_isl4086 wrote on October 16, 2022 at 8:05 PM

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.

TylerInHiFi t1_isl5ui4 wrote on October 16, 2022 at 8:17 PM

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.