1 00:00:04,080 --> 00:00:07,440 Speaker 1: Welcome to Aaron Manke's Cabinet of Curiosities, a production of 2 00:00:07,480 --> 00:00:09,320 Speaker 1: iHeartRadio and Grimm and Mild. 3 00:00:12,840 --> 00:00:16,840 Speaker 2: Our world is full of the unexplainable, and if history 4 00:00:17,040 --> 00:00:20,280 Speaker 2: is an open book, all of these amazing tales are 5 00:00:20,320 --> 00:00:23,720 Speaker 2: right there on display, just waiting for us to explore. 6 00:00:25,239 --> 00:00:38,160 Speaker 2: Welcome to the Cabinet of Curiosities. Our imaginations are drawn 7 00:00:38,200 --> 00:00:41,040 Speaker 2: to the unknown, whether that's the open expanse of the 8 00:00:41,159 --> 00:00:44,080 Speaker 2: night sky or the deepest depths of the ocean. We're 9 00:00:44,159 --> 00:00:47,639 Speaker 2: primed to wonder what secret realms lie just beyond our 10 00:00:47,680 --> 00:00:50,440 Speaker 2: comfort zone. Those realms are the source of some of 11 00:00:50,479 --> 00:00:54,160 Speaker 2: our most potent myths and stories, and few places have 12 00:00:54,280 --> 00:00:57,280 Speaker 2: the same enduring mystery as a cave or a well. 13 00:00:57,640 --> 00:00:59,960 Speaker 2: It's like a portal into the innards of the planet. 14 00:01:00,440 --> 00:01:03,160 Speaker 2: Will refreshing water bubble up from a fissure in the 15 00:01:03,160 --> 00:01:07,040 Speaker 2: earth or will it be hot lava? Anything seems possible. 16 00:01:07,880 --> 00:01:10,600 Speaker 2: In the nineteen eighties, a curious story emerged from the 17 00:01:10,640 --> 00:01:14,560 Speaker 2: frozen reaches of Siberia. People claimed that a Russian research 18 00:01:14,600 --> 00:01:18,360 Speaker 2: expedition had made a terrifying discovery. They had drilled a 19 00:01:18,400 --> 00:01:23,839 Speaker 2: whole nine miles deep, discovering a strange, hollow pocket of air. Intrigued, 20 00:01:23,920 --> 00:01:27,760 Speaker 2: the diggers lowered a heat resistant microphone down into the depths, 21 00:01:28,000 --> 00:01:31,600 Speaker 2: and that microphone picked up sounds of agonized screaming, a 22 00:01:31,680 --> 00:01:36,080 Speaker 2: chorus of voices wailing in pain. Basically, the reports claimed 23 00:01:36,120 --> 00:01:40,360 Speaker 2: that Soviet Russia had discovered a portal to Hell. This was, 24 00:01:40,400 --> 00:01:43,440 Speaker 2: of course inaccurate. It was an urban legend spread by 25 00:01:43,480 --> 00:01:48,400 Speaker 2: evangelical Christians to credulous tabloid newspapers. The actual story was 26 00:01:48,440 --> 00:01:51,360 Speaker 2: far more ordinary. There was a hole that deep in 27 00:01:51,400 --> 00:01:55,000 Speaker 2: the Cola Peninsula, but not Siberia, and it produced no 28 00:01:55,160 --> 00:01:58,200 Speaker 2: such screams. The inner layers of the Earth are strange 29 00:01:58,240 --> 00:02:02,360 Speaker 2: and unsettling, but not satanic as suggested by the tabloids. 30 00:02:02,680 --> 00:02:05,880 Speaker 2: The urban legend labeled the story as the well to Hell, 31 00:02:06,200 --> 00:02:09,880 Speaker 2: and even without the supernatural element, it's an impressive achievement. 32 00:02:10,160 --> 00:02:13,080 Speaker 2: It took the Soviet Union twenty years to dig that deep, 33 00:02:13,240 --> 00:02:16,480 Speaker 2: a mission inspired by the global competition of the Cold War, 34 00:02:16,760 --> 00:02:20,280 Speaker 2: a sort of inverse space race. Now the borehole can 35 00:02:20,320 --> 00:02:23,440 Speaker 2: be used to sample the Earth's mantle and inspire real 36 00:02:23,520 --> 00:02:27,240 Speaker 2: geological study. Not a bad end result for an urban legend. 37 00:02:27,720 --> 00:02:29,880 Speaker 2: But this is not the only well to Hell on 38 00:02:30,000 --> 00:02:32,440 Speaker 2: planet Earth. In fact, it wasn't even the first. The 39 00:02:32,480 --> 00:02:35,639 Speaker 2: other is much older and not man made. Viewed from 40 00:02:35,680 --> 00:02:37,960 Speaker 2: a bird's eye view, it's a big black hole in 41 00:02:38,000 --> 00:02:38,720 Speaker 2: the Middle East. 42 00:02:38,960 --> 00:02:40,399 Speaker 1: Ninety eight feet across. 43 00:02:40,840 --> 00:02:43,680 Speaker 2: The Well of Barhut lies in the eastern corner of Yemen, 44 00:02:43,840 --> 00:02:46,000 Speaker 2: and for a millennia it was a fixation of the 45 00:02:46,040 --> 00:02:49,320 Speaker 2: local imagination. No tabloid have ever claimed that they heard 46 00:02:49,360 --> 00:02:51,959 Speaker 2: screaming from within its depths, but it still earned the 47 00:02:52,040 --> 00:02:54,760 Speaker 2: nickname the Well of Hell, and locals were wary of 48 00:02:54,840 --> 00:02:58,120 Speaker 2: venturing near it for a very long time. The stories 49 00:02:58,120 --> 00:03:01,120 Speaker 2: were first written down sometime around the seventh century, although 50 00:03:01,120 --> 00:03:04,480 Speaker 2: they're likely much older than that. They tell various accounts 51 00:03:04,520 --> 00:03:08,120 Speaker 2: of the well's origin and purpose. Some ancient king perhaps 52 00:03:08,400 --> 00:03:11,200 Speaker 2: carved it out of the earth to hide his treasure. However, 53 00:03:11,280 --> 00:03:13,480 Speaker 2: the most enduring theory is that it's a prison to 54 00:03:13,560 --> 00:03:18,040 Speaker 2: contain scores of evil gin known as Ephrit, and Aphritz 55 00:03:18,120 --> 00:03:21,600 Speaker 2: is many things in Islamic tradition, a shape shifter, a demon, 56 00:03:21,800 --> 00:03:24,800 Speaker 2: a trickster spirit. They're the gin who have chosen to 57 00:03:24,840 --> 00:03:29,680 Speaker 2: pursue evil and mischief, so naturally, local imagination filled the 58 00:03:29,720 --> 00:03:30,120 Speaker 2: Well of. 59 00:03:30,040 --> 00:03:31,200 Speaker 1: Barhut with them. 60 00:03:31,320 --> 00:03:34,200 Speaker 2: The prophet Muhammad even supposedly proclaimed that the water in 61 00:03:34,240 --> 00:03:36,400 Speaker 2: the well of Barhut is the worst water on the 62 00:03:36,440 --> 00:03:39,200 Speaker 2: face of the earth. It would be poisonous to drink. 63 00:03:39,800 --> 00:03:43,800 Speaker 2: Eventually people tested this theory. Many amateur cavers entered Barhut 64 00:03:43,840 --> 00:03:46,360 Speaker 2: over the years, but it wasn't until twenty twenty one 65 00:03:46,600 --> 00:03:50,080 Speaker 2: that an expedition actually reached the bottom. As villagers gathered 66 00:03:50,120 --> 00:03:53,760 Speaker 2: around to watch, a team of professional cavers secured ropes 67 00:03:53,800 --> 00:03:57,360 Speaker 2: and repelled into the Well of Hell. They descended almost 68 00:03:57,400 --> 00:04:00,480 Speaker 2: four hundred feet into the earth, reaching the boom. What 69 00:04:00,520 --> 00:04:04,360 Speaker 2: they found wasn't gin, but waterfalls, cave pearls, and a 70 00:04:04,480 --> 00:04:10,120 Speaker 2: unique ecosystem that included birds, toads, lizards, and strange translucent snakes. 71 00:04:10,480 --> 00:04:13,760 Speaker 2: The water isn't poisonous, but quite fresh. When the team 72 00:04:13,840 --> 00:04:15,880 Speaker 2: came back to the surface, they showed pictures to the 73 00:04:15,920 --> 00:04:19,080 Speaker 2: locals and brought up the infamous cave water to sample. 74 00:04:19,560 --> 00:04:21,960 Speaker 2: After all those stories and folk myths, I can only 75 00:04:22,040 --> 00:04:23,400 Speaker 2: imagine what this must have been. 76 00:04:23,320 --> 00:04:24,000 Speaker 1: Like to witness. 77 00:04:24,440 --> 00:04:27,560 Speaker 2: It's tempting to see science as a force that eradicates 78 00:04:27,640 --> 00:04:30,320 Speaker 2: mystery from the world, But the Well of Barhut is 79 00:04:30,360 --> 00:04:33,320 Speaker 2: a good example of how one mystery can be replaced 80 00:04:33,400 --> 00:04:37,719 Speaker 2: with another. The formation of a strange and miraculous biome underground, 81 00:04:37,960 --> 00:04:40,920 Speaker 2: a pocket sized world just beneath the surface. 82 00:04:40,600 --> 00:04:41,240 Speaker 1: Of our own. 83 00:04:41,680 --> 00:04:44,480 Speaker 2: And it's fair to say that is certainly a more 84 00:04:44,520 --> 00:05:03,080 Speaker 2: inspiring discovery than a gateway to hell. William Watt huddled 85 00:05:03,120 --> 00:05:06,920 Speaker 2: in his four post bed, trembling as the wind howled outside. 86 00:05:07,160 --> 00:05:10,040 Speaker 2: At seventy four years old. The layered of Scalehouse had 87 00:05:10,040 --> 00:05:12,880 Speaker 2: seen his share of storms. Bad weather was a fact 88 00:05:12,920 --> 00:05:15,600 Speaker 2: of life on the Orkney Islands, where his family had 89 00:05:15,640 --> 00:05:19,520 Speaker 2: lived for generations. The archipelago lay ten miles off the 90 00:05:19,520 --> 00:05:22,960 Speaker 2: coast of Mainland Scotland, exposed to the relentless fury of 91 00:05:23,000 --> 00:05:27,120 Speaker 2: the North Atlantic. Over centuries, wind and waves have shaped 92 00:05:27,120 --> 00:05:31,560 Speaker 2: the islands, carving cliffs and shifting sand dunes, constantly remaking 93 00:05:31,600 --> 00:05:35,240 Speaker 2: the landscape. Watt had lived through more storms than he 94 00:05:35,279 --> 00:05:38,040 Speaker 2: could count, but this tempest put them all to shame. 95 00:05:38,480 --> 00:05:40,919 Speaker 2: It struck in the winter of eighteen fifty, and it 96 00:05:41,040 --> 00:05:44,600 Speaker 2: battered the island for days. Rain lashed the stone walls 97 00:05:44,600 --> 00:05:48,359 Speaker 2: of Scalehouse, rattling its windows with such ferocity that Watt 98 00:05:48,400 --> 00:05:51,240 Speaker 2: feared they would shatter. He lay awake, listening to the 99 00:05:51,320 --> 00:05:54,240 Speaker 2: roof grown, praying that his home would still be standing 100 00:05:54,320 --> 00:05:58,920 Speaker 2: when the storm passed. By morning it was over, Watt stepped, 101 00:05:58,960 --> 00:06:02,240 Speaker 2: blinking out into the sunshine, bracing himself for what he 102 00:06:02,320 --> 00:06:06,200 Speaker 2: might find. The destruction was worse than he feared. Roofs 103 00:06:06,200 --> 00:06:11,080 Speaker 2: torn from cottages, farmland flattened, boats scattered and strewn across 104 00:06:11,080 --> 00:06:13,560 Speaker 2: the shore. The storm had claimed the lives of some 105 00:06:13,600 --> 00:06:17,000 Speaker 2: two hundred people, many of them were fishermen, their bodies 106 00:06:17,320 --> 00:06:20,480 Speaker 2: lost to the waves. And yet, as what trudged toward 107 00:06:20,480 --> 00:06:23,200 Speaker 2: the Bay of Scale, something else caught his eye. A 108 00:06:23,279 --> 00:06:26,680 Speaker 2: low stone wall jutted up from the sand, its precise, 109 00:06:26,839 --> 00:06:30,680 Speaker 2: stacked formation too deliberate to be natural. This wasn't more 110 00:06:30,720 --> 00:06:35,160 Speaker 2: damage from the storm, but something the storm had uncovered. Curious, 111 00:06:35,240 --> 00:06:37,720 Speaker 2: Watts and a few of his farm hands began to dig. 112 00:06:38,000 --> 00:06:41,240 Speaker 2: What they discovered astounded them. Beneath the sand lay a 113 00:06:41,279 --> 00:06:46,320 Speaker 2: series of interconnected dwellings built with large flat stones. Inside 114 00:06:46,320 --> 00:06:50,040 Speaker 2: each one, Watt found evidence of a sophisticated society. There 115 00:06:50,120 --> 00:06:54,200 Speaker 2: was stone furniture, tools, and jewelry, even artwork. The more 116 00:06:54,240 --> 00:06:57,840 Speaker 2: he unearthed, the more he realized these structures weren't medieval 117 00:06:58,080 --> 00:07:01,680 Speaker 2: or even Roman. They weren't hundreds of years old, but thousands. 118 00:07:02,440 --> 00:07:05,960 Speaker 2: Archaeologists believed that the site known today as Scarabray was 119 00:07:06,000 --> 00:07:09,840 Speaker 2: a thriving pastoral village around three thy two hundred BC. 120 00:07:10,440 --> 00:07:13,400 Speaker 2: That means it was built centuries before Stonehenge or the 121 00:07:13,440 --> 00:07:16,440 Speaker 2: Great Pyramids of Egypt. It's one of the oldest Neolithic 122 00:07:16,520 --> 00:07:20,000 Speaker 2: settlements in Western Europe, Neolithic, meaning that it dates back 123 00:07:20,040 --> 00:07:22,880 Speaker 2: to the Late Stone Age, and yet, thanks to the 124 00:07:22,880 --> 00:07:25,520 Speaker 2: fact that it was buried in sand for five thousand years, 125 00:07:25,920 --> 00:07:29,680 Speaker 2: it's remarkably well preserved. The village consisted of at least 126 00:07:29,720 --> 00:07:33,560 Speaker 2: eight houses, constructed a flagstone sourced from the nearby area. 127 00:07:33,840 --> 00:07:36,880 Speaker 2: They were connected by a labyrinth of stone tunnels so 128 00:07:36,920 --> 00:07:39,480 Speaker 2: that the inhabitants didn't have to brave the elements to 129 00:07:39,600 --> 00:07:42,440 Speaker 2: visit one another. There were no windows, which meant that 130 00:07:42,480 --> 00:07:46,280 Speaker 2: the interiors were dark and smoky, lit by large central hearts. 131 00:07:46,560 --> 00:07:49,920 Speaker 2: The dwellings were covered in a protective insulating mixture of 132 00:07:50,000 --> 00:07:54,640 Speaker 2: dung ash, animal bone, and other debris. Grass probably grew 133 00:07:54,720 --> 00:07:58,240 Speaker 2: over this top layer, camouflaging the village from prying eyes. 134 00:07:58,440 --> 00:08:00,960 Speaker 2: Any seafarers who happened to pass spy would have only 135 00:08:01,000 --> 00:08:04,560 Speaker 2: seen a cluster of hills, and considering how long ago 136 00:08:04,600 --> 00:08:08,760 Speaker 2: they lived, the people of Scarabray possessed remarkable inventions. Many 137 00:08:08,800 --> 00:08:11,760 Speaker 2: of the homes contained a waterproof stone box that might 138 00:08:11,760 --> 00:08:14,520 Speaker 2: have been used to store live seafood. They even had 139 00:08:14,560 --> 00:08:18,440 Speaker 2: a primitive sewer drain and the world's earliest known indoor toilets, 140 00:08:18,640 --> 00:08:21,760 Speaker 2: three thousand years before the Roman latrines would be built. 141 00:08:22,320 --> 00:08:24,280 Speaker 2: But for all the site can tell us about the past, 142 00:08:24,560 --> 00:08:27,640 Speaker 2: it still holds countless mysteries. The people who lived at 143 00:08:27,680 --> 00:08:31,240 Speaker 2: Scarabray didn't keep written records, so much of what we 144 00:08:31,320 --> 00:08:34,400 Speaker 2: know about them is cobbled together from inferences and just 145 00:08:34,559 --> 00:08:38,080 Speaker 2: best guesses. And one of those mysteries is how seven 146 00:08:38,480 --> 00:08:41,559 Speaker 2: separated from the other structures. It's the only building at 147 00:08:41,600 --> 00:08:45,880 Speaker 2: Scarabray where the door is barred from the outside. Anthropologists 148 00:08:45,920 --> 00:08:48,199 Speaker 2: theorized that it might have been used as a jail, 149 00:08:48,360 --> 00:08:51,240 Speaker 2: or possibly for some kind of ritual ceremony. 150 00:08:51,559 --> 00:08:53,319 Speaker 1: But the real mystery the one. 151 00:08:53,120 --> 00:08:56,720 Speaker 2: That's puzzled experts, since what discovered the site is where 152 00:08:56,800 --> 00:09:01,040 Speaker 2: everyone went. It seems that Scarabray was abruptly abandoned around 153 00:09:01,120 --> 00:09:05,000 Speaker 2: twenty five hundred BC. To this day, no one knows why. 154 00:09:05,240 --> 00:09:08,560 Speaker 2: There's no evidence of weapons or unburied human remains at 155 00:09:08,559 --> 00:09:11,360 Speaker 2: the site, so it doesn't seem like the inhabitants were 156 00:09:11,440 --> 00:09:14,760 Speaker 2: driven off by invaders. It's possible they fled to escape 157 00:09:14,800 --> 00:09:17,480 Speaker 2: a storm just like the one that uncovered the village, 158 00:09:17,880 --> 00:09:21,880 Speaker 2: or they simply might have relocated somewhere with better weather. Today, 159 00:09:21,920 --> 00:09:25,360 Speaker 2: Scarbray is a World Heritage Site visited by thousands of 160 00:09:25,360 --> 00:09:28,560 Speaker 2: tourists each year. You can go yourself, weather permitting, and 161 00:09:28,640 --> 00:09:31,520 Speaker 2: get a rare glimpse into the lives of Stone Age humans, 162 00:09:31,840 --> 00:09:34,640 Speaker 2: but you better hurry. It might not be there much longer. 163 00:09:35,160 --> 00:09:38,160 Speaker 2: Experts worry that due to climate change, the site is 164 00:09:38,200 --> 00:09:41,600 Speaker 2: at risk of being lost forever. As the sea levels rise, 165 00:09:41,920 --> 00:09:45,319 Speaker 2: chances increased that a powerful storm like the one experienced 166 00:09:45,320 --> 00:09:48,800 Speaker 2: by William Watt could wipe Scarabray off the face of 167 00:09:48,840 --> 00:09:51,200 Speaker 2: the Earth, and to lose it like that would be 168 00:09:51,240 --> 00:09:55,160 Speaker 2: both ironic and deeply tragic. Scar Obray was preserved and 169 00:09:55,200 --> 00:09:58,439 Speaker 2: hidden by nature for over five thousand years, and if 170 00:09:58,440 --> 00:10:01,920 Speaker 2: we're not careful, it could all be gone in an instant. 171 00:10:05,880 --> 00:10:08,560 Speaker 2: I hope you've enjoyed today's guided tour of the Cabinet 172 00:10:08,600 --> 00:10:12,480 Speaker 2: of Curiosities. Subscribe for free on Apple Podcasts, or learn 173 00:10:12,520 --> 00:10:17,040 Speaker 2: more about the show by visiting Curiosities podcast dot com. 174 00:10:17,120 --> 00:10:20,679 Speaker 2: The show was created by me Aaron Mankey in partnership 175 00:10:20,720 --> 00:10:24,000 Speaker 2: with how Stuff Works. I make another award winning show 176 00:10:24,120 --> 00:10:28,199 Speaker 2: called Lore, which is a podcast, book series, and television show, 177 00:10:28,440 --> 00:10:30,280 Speaker 2: and you can learn all about it over at the 178 00:10:30,480 --> 00:10:35,600 Speaker 2: Worldoflore dot com. And until next time, stay curious.