In the long history, the survival of the poor in ancient times was full of hardships and hardships. Faced with the harsh cold of winter, they are forced to resort to a variety of simple and unsatisfactory ways to withstand the cold. However, perhaps there is one technique that has been overlooked in their survival toolbox, and that is the cellar. Why was the cellar, an ancient tool that was used by our ancestors to store grain as early as the late stage of primitive agriculture, not popular among the poor in ancient times?
A cellar is a cellar hole dug in the ground to provide a relatively stable and warm environment for people in winter by taking advantage of the stability of ground temperature. Ground temperature refers to the temperature of the soil at a certain depth below the surface, which is affected by the surface temperature and geothermal heat, but the change is less than that of the surface temperature.
The depth of the cellar is exactly within the range of the ground temperature constant, so when the outside temperature is extremely low, the temperature inside the cellar is relatively high, providing a warm shelter for people. However, despite the theoretical function of the cellar to protect against the cold, the poor in ancient times rarely chose to dig the cellar. To understand this phenomenon, we need to consider a complex set of factors, including cost, effectiveness, and risk.
First of all, the cost of digging cellars was a great burden for the poor in ancient times. These poor people often do not own their own land, or have only meagre land resources. If they want to dig a cellar on the land, they have to get permission from the landlord, or rent someone else's land.
This means that they have to pay a price, which may be to pay rent to the landlord or to provide other forms of labor. And for these poor people, this is already a large expense. In addition, digging the cellar requires tools and materials such as shovels, barrels, and lime.
This was also a luxury for the poor in ancient times, something they could not easily obtain. However, even after overcoming these economic challenges, the results of cellar excavation are not always stable. The effectiveness of a cellar is influenced by a variety of factors, including the size, depth, location, ventilation, and waterproofing of the cellar.
If the cellar is not properly designed or constructed, it can lead to unstable temperatures and even dangers such as water leaks, landslides and gas accumulation. In ancient times, poor people often lacked relevant professional knowledge and technology, and did not have enough experience and conditions to ensure the quality and safety of cellars.
To make matters worse, digging a cellar is extremely risky. Even if the cellar is relatively stable, it does not mean that it is safe. In ancient societies, the poor often lacked the protection of the law and the respect of society. The cellars they dig are vulnerable to encroachment, destruction, and robbery. Landlords, tyrants or robbers may deliberately destroy or occupy these cellars for their own benefit, leaving the poor homeless.
Even the government or the military may forcibly demolish or burn down the cellars of the poor in order to levy taxes, conscription, or suppress the clean-up of the poor, leaving them in a more predicament. Given these economic and security factors, it seems that the poor in ancient times were more inclined to endure the bitter cold than to choose to dig cellars. So, how did the ancient poor spend the winter?
The poor in ancient times often did not have their own houses, or had only a simple hut. The walls and roofs of these houses are made of rudimentary materials such as grass, mud and wood, which are poorly insulated, and can be easily penetrated by cold wind and snowflakes, making people blue and swollen.
The space of a hut is usually small, only a few square meters, and sometimes it is even shared with livestock. This not only leads to a decrease in air quality, but also increases the risk of infectious diseases. In addition, these huts are often bullied by landlords or tyrants, and sometimes even forcibly demolished or burned, leaving the poor with nowhere to go.
Lacking modern heating facilities, the ancient poor could only get warm in some simple ways. Burning fires is one of the common ways, however, burning firewood or straw not only consumes scarce resources, but also produces smoke that negatively affects breathing and vision.
Dressing is also not an easy task, and poor people often have only one or two worn-out pieces of clothing and have to share them with their families. These garments are susceptible to insect damage or abrasion, making it difficult to keep them warm. Huddle together for heating is a relatively simple way, but due to the large population and limited housing space, this also often leads to friction and contradictions between people.
In general, the living conditions of the poor in ancient times were very difficult. Despite the existence of the cellar as a technology with a theoretical function of keeping out the cold, due to a variety of complex reasons, including economic, security, cultural and social structure, the ancient poor often chose to endure the cold rather than choose to dig the cellar. Their predicament reflects the gap between the rich and the poor, the land system, legal protection and other problems in ancient society, and provides a window for us to understand ancient human society.