Archaeologists Uncover Gate to Underworld

JonB

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Sep 16, 2012
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Archaeologists Uncover Gate to Underworld



The site emits deadly carbon dioxide fumes - enough to kill a small bird flying nearby.

Archaeologists working in the ancient Phrygian city of Hierapolis have announced that they have found Pluto's Gate, a cave that was celebrated as a portal to the underworld in Greco-Roman mythology. Known as Ploutonion in Greek and Plutonium in Latin, the cave was described by contemporary sources as "full of vapor so misty and dense that one can scarcely see the ground. Any animal that passes inside meets instant death." While searching, the archaeologists found a site matching ancient descriptions, including a temple, pool, cave, steps leading to the cave. Francesco D'Andria, a professor of archaeology at the University of Salento, lead the team. D'Andria told Discovery news that "We found Plutonium by reconstructing the route of a thermal spring." The cave itself releases a constant cloud of carbon dioxide gas. "We could see the cave's lethal properties during the excavation. Several birds died as they tried to get close to the warm opening, instantly killed by the carbon dioxide fumes."

D'Andria says that the site was a famous destination for religious devotees, and had a tourist-like attraction for ancients. "People could watch the sacred rites from these steps, but they could not get to the area near the opening. Only the priests could stand in front of the portal." The priests would have sacrificed bulls at the portal mouth, and carried live animals inside, only to later emerge with them dead. According to D'Andria, small birds would have been given to pilgrims to throw into the cave, where the bird would fall dead. The Eunuchs of Cybele, a fertility goddess, were the priests who were able to enter the cave without dying. Strabo, a greek geographer contemporary to the operation of the temple, said that the eunuchs "hold their breath as much as they can," but also ascribes mystic powers or divine providence to the eunuchs' apparent invincibility. The temple would have been dedicated to Pluto and Kore, gods of the underworld.

Source: Discovery news [http://news.discovery.com/history/archaeology/gate-to-hell-found-in-turkey-130329.htm]

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Quaxar

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Sep 21, 2009
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I don't know why it is that every science article I read today is becoming an Escapist news. Are you guys stalking me or something?
GET OUT OF MY HEAD OR AT LEAST TAKE OFF YOUR SHOES!

Curiously, it hasn't been mentioned anywhere yet how these CO2 fumes actually are produced.
 

Mithcha

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Oct 21, 2011
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They must've done more than simply hold their breath surely. Stood in a particular spot, carried some sort of bag, did a voodoo dance, something.
 

Tireseas_v1legacy

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Sep 28, 2009
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Mithcha said:
They must've done more than simply hold their breath surely. Stood in a particular spot, carried some sort of bag, did a voodoo dance, something.
From the sound of things, the only animals with larger lung capacity than humans were not brought into the cave (the bulls were sacrificed at the entrance), so a human could walk in for about a minute (humans can hold their breath for almost three minutes depending on fitness and lung capacity) and have more than enough air while a bird or small mammal would suffocate.
 

rofltehcat

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Jul 24, 2009
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A breathtaking discovery!

Curiously, it hasn't been mentioned anywhere yet how these CO2 fumes actually are produced.
Probably produced by volcanic activity. Greece lies between the Eurasian and the African tectonic plate and they also have quite a few earth quakes etc. They even seem to have their own "little" Aegean Sea Plate that is stuck between the Eurasian, Anatolian and African plates!
 

Thaluikhain

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You know, when I saw the headline, I was certain the Escapist was being intentionally misleading again, but, no, it's more or less literally true.
 

Voulan

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I was so sure it was going to be another one of those false stories, like the whole "Koreans prove unicorns are real" debacle a while ago.

But nope, this is literally it. How incredible! They need to get inside to see how it works.
 

NightmareWarden

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Mithcha said:
Curiously, it hasn't been mentioned anywhere yet how these CO2 fumes actually are produced.
They said they found Plutonium, so I guess that is the cause. I'm surprised that plutonium is naturally occurring since I doubt the Greek/Romans had the means to produce it.

EDIT: Alright, I've made the silly mistake of assuming that Plutonium meant plutonium. No need for anymore corrections, thanks though. I guess we'll learn what caused the CO[sub]2[/sub] once the scientists have finished the digital reconstruction the Discovery article mentions.
 

fletch_talon

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NightmareWarden said:
Mithcha said:
Curiously, it hasn't been mentioned anywhere yet how these CO2 fumes actually are produced.
They said they found Plutonium, so I guess that is the cause. I'm surprised that plutonium is naturally occurring since I doubt the Greek/Romans had the means to produce it.
They also mentioned that Plutonium is the name of the temple because Pluto refers to the god of the underworld AKA Hades.
I like when stuff like this is found. It revives a little bit of the world's mystery and fantasy. I'm well aware that there'll be some volcanic vent underneath there and not a river of souls, three headed hound, spooky ferryman or captive godess, but its fun to imagine.
 

Faulty Turmoil

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NightmareWarden said:
Mithcha said:
Curiously, it hasn't been mentioned anywhere yet how these CO2 fumes actually are produced.
They said they found Plutonium, so I guess that is the cause. I'm surprised that plutonium is naturally occurring since I doubt the Greek/Romans had the means to produce it.
They don't mean the element. Plutonium is the latin name of the place.
 

kael013

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NightmareWarden said:
Mithcha said:
Curiously, it hasn't been mentioned anywhere yet how these CO2 fumes actually are produced.
They said they found Plutonium, so I guess that is the cause. I'm surprised that plutonium is naturally occurring since I doubt the Greek/Romans had the means to produce it.
I'm not sure you understand what they mean by "plutonium". "Plutonium" is the Latin version of the Greek word "Plutonion" which means "the Gate of Pluto" (Pluto being the Roman name for Hades, which is the name of both the Greek god of death and his domain - the underworld). So when the article says Plutonium they really mean "the gate of Hades" or to break it down even further "the Gate of Hell". You're thinking about the element, which was probably named that due to scientists liking to be pretentious and use names from Greek and Roman mythology for their discoveries.

Huh, those two years of high school Latin [i/]did[/i] finally come in handy. I knew they weren't a waste! ...What, I totally did!
 

kat-pottz

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Jan 25, 2011
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it was a tourist attraction!? Guys c'mon, this has got to be some kinda gag otherwise... otherwise I don't even know what to think anymore.
 

Owyn_Merrilin

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You know, I always knew that the ancient Greeks had an idea of Hades being a physical place, and even that they had a vague idea of the direction. I didn't realize there was an actual cave that they could point to and go "see this? This is where Odysseus entered the underworld and talked to the dead."
 

The_Great_Galendo

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Sep 14, 2012
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Owyn_Merrilin said:
You know, I always knew that the ancient Greeks had an idea of Hades being a physical place, and even that they had a vague idea of the direction. I didn't realize there was an actual cave that they could point to and go "see this? This is where Odysseus entered the underworld and talked to the dead."
Yeah, me neither. I mean, presumably no Greek ever journeyed to where Atlas held up the sky, for instance, despite that being a physical place in their mythology. But this actually is a physical place, and the conclusion that it's the entrance to the underworld is pretty darn reasonable, under the circumstances. Plus, once you can literally travel and see the "entrance to the underworld", it becomes a lot easier to imagine that you could in fact go hold a chat with Atlas if only you traveled far enough.
 

thiosk

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NightmareWarden said:
Mithcha said:
Curiously, it hasn't been mentioned anywhere yet how these CO2 fumes actually are produced.
They said they found Plutonium, so I guess that is the cause. I'm surprised that plutonium is naturally occurring since I doubt the Greek/Romans had the means to produce it.
A common error. Elements are not proper nouns, and should not be capitalized mid sentence. A great way to distinguish plutonium from Plutonium!