Early people relied upon the natural environment to give them shelter. Hunters made camps beneath cliffs, and families often lived and sheltered in natural caves. In some places, such as Lascaux in France and Altamira in Spain, early people painted scenes including animals on the walls of their caves. Many centuries later, in pre-Greek, Roman and Medieval Times, people dug caves out of soft rock. Some civilizations even carved elaborate buildings out of the sides of cliffs, such as the temples and tombs cut into red rock at petra, Jordan.
The Deir is the largest and one of the grandest monument in Petra. The Deir is so called because Christian hermits are thought to have lived there. The ancient city of Petra, in Jordan, was an important trading center in Roman times. Camel trains passed through carrying incense, silk and spices. There were high cliffs all around the city and people carved buildings out of the sandstone walls.
CLIFF DWELLING
From about a.d. 1000 to 1300, native peoples called Anasazi, who lived in south western Colorado, US built homes in holes in the walls of canyon cliffs. This parkland region is known as Mesa Verde, or Green Table.
CAVE HOMES
People have been living in the caves at Cappadocia, Turkey, for 5000 years. Homes have been carved out of the soft volcanic rock. Some are still in use and have entrances at a high level for security.
SACRED CAVES
About 10 million people may have lived in the Buddhist cave temples at Yun-Kang, in China during the Wei dynasty. In the Sui dynasty 500 more caves at Dunhuang were filled with painting and carvings of the Buddha, giving them the name "The Caves of the 1,000 Buddhas." The caves,now empty were used by monks and missionaries.
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