[frikk]

An interesting observation from the photos is that you can see evidence of light vandalization (mostly "names" carved into the rock). This implies these caves are part of some hyper local knowledge (at least as a party room for teenagers).

- I wonder what the oldest vandalization is?

- Could it be that there are many others in the area, which is why this hasn't been formally discovered before? How many times has it been "rediscovered" in the last 700 years?

- Is it actually a rabbit hole (as in: a hole used by rabbits) or just a "door"? Seems likely that it "looks" like a rabbit hole, but is actually a (perhaps maintained) door into the cave.

[pera]

> In 2012, it was reported that the owners of the caves closed them to people wanting to visit after they found they had been filled with candles, graffiti and rubbish. The entrance to the caves was sealed up in attempt to keep the trespassers at bay.

http://www.shropshirestar.com/news/2017/03/07/in-pictures-se...

[frikk]

Cool. The original article was lacking on details. Thanks for the context.

[iamben]

I posted the link to this (as in the original article everyone is referencing) hours ago, before the BBC post linked here. One of those times HN suffers if you post something that doesn't have a linkbait headline.

[mrspeaker]

About the "oldest vandalization" - I remember seeing an exhibition on Pompeii and Mount Vesuvius (79AD), and there was a bunch of examples of preserved graffiti. There seemed to be lots of "Mr Speaker was 'ere", even then!

[edit: oh, article about it... https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2016/03/adrie...)

[edit 2: http://www.pompeiana.org/Resources/Ancient/Graffiti%20from%2... - lots of examples of texts they found: "Daphnus was here with his Felicla", "Restitutus has deceived many girls", "O walls, you have held up so much tedious graffiti that I am amazed that you have not already collapsed in ruin"!]

[irrational]

"If anyone does not believe in Venus, they should gaze at my girl friend" Reading these just emphasizes to me that these are people just like us. We might wear different clothes and speak different languages, but we really are just the same as people were thousands of years ago.

"If anyone sits here, let him read this first of all: if anyone wants a screw, he should look for Attice; she costs 4 sestertii." Seriously, I'm pretty sure I saw this same graffiti in a truck stop restroom stall once.

[Baeocystin]

According to the link below, Attice's going rate is ~$24.

More seriously, I agree with your sentiment. There is something oddly comforting, seeing just how prosaic the graffiti of ancient civilizations are.

https://www.quora.com/What-is-the-value-of-1-Roman-Sesterces...

[lighandlight]

You might appreciate some Greek classics. I had the same epiphany while reading Aristophanes for the first time.

[sandworm101]

I can better that by a few thousand years. Egyption pyramids have graffiti tucked into corners, graffiti left by builders. I doubt there is any structure that doesnt have some improper mark left by someone during construction.

[PJDK]

A nice example of this can be seen in the British Museum where one of the Assyrian Statues has a board game scratched into it's base, presumably by bored guards. There's a picture of it in this article http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-35669056

[Baeocystin]

I used to work as a welder in a shipyard. Deep in the hold, ribs never to be seen- dicks everywhere. It was almost poetic.

[adriancooney]

Newgrange[1] in Ireland has a bunch of extremely old graffiti and it's amazing. You can clearly see dates carved into the rock from the 1800s alongside people's names.

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Newgrange