Where a cliff stood up precipitous or overhanging, and in its face
gaped caverns, those who sought refuge in time of danger naturally
looked to them, and contrived means of reaching them, therein to
ensconce their goods and secure their persons. They might have to
contemplate the devastation of their fields, and their farms burning,
from their eyries, but they knew that their persons were safe. There
were various ways by which these caves could be reached; one was by
cutting notches in the face of the cliff for fingers and toes, so that
it could be climbed to from below, but not accessible to an enemy
exposed to the thrust of pikes, and to stones being cast down upon him.
Or else the notches were cut laterally from an accessible ledge, but if
so, then this mode of approach was carefully guarded. A second method
was by ladders, but as some of these caves are so high up that no
single ladder could reach their mouths, a succession was contrived
notched below and above into the rock where ledges either existed
naturally or were contrived artificially, so as to enable the climber
to step from one ladder to the next. In the event of danger the ladders
could be withdrawn. A third method was by a windlass, rope and basket,
and this was employed where the ascent by finger and toe notches was
peculiarly perilous, for the conveyance of goods or of children and old
people. But cattle had also to be saved from the depredators, and in
some of the cliff refuges are stables for horses and cowstalls, with
mangers and silos; places also where the windlass was fixed and there
the sharp edge of the rock has been smoothed to an easy slope to
facilitate the landing of the beasts, that were hauled up by bands
placed under their bellies. Provision was also made for the baking of
bread and the storage of water, this latter in the same way as already
described in the account of the contrivances for permanent rock-
dwellings. These cliff refuges can have been had recourse to only on
emergencies, on account of their inaccessibility.
At Cazelles in the commune of Sireuil (Dordogne) is a cliff 1200 feet
long, and about 150 feet high. It has been worn into a deep furrow some
twenty or thirty feet from the top, horizontal and running its entire
length. The whole cliff overhangs its base. The entire groove has been
occupied as a refuge, and there have been excavations in the back of
the groove for additional chambers. In front, moreover, there must have
been a balcony of wood, sustained by beams and props. In three places
the edge of the terrace has been cut through for the convenience of
hauling up cattle and farm produce. At the time when this was in use
there was a hamlet at the foot of the cliff, as is shown by the furrows
cut in the rock into which the tile roofing was let, and notches for
the reception of the roof timbers.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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