Erdstall tunnels: 'dwarf holes'
Hundreds of tiny medieval tunnels, often too narrow to crawl through, lie under farms in Bavaria and Austria. Locals call them Schrazellöcher or Zwerglöcher, 'goblin holes' or 'dwarf holes'.
1449 CE · 48.60, 12.40 · status: unexplained
The account
Over 700 are known in Bavaria alone. They are 1 to 1.4 m high and about 60 cm wide, with squeeze holes ('Schlupf') leading to lower passages, and end in small chambers. A document of 1449 mentions land 'auf den erdstelln'. Folklore said little people made or lived in them.
The sceptical view
They were dug by people, probably in the 11th–12th centuries. Almost nothing has been found in them, so their purpose, whether hiding places, escape routes or ritual spaces for the souls of the dead, remains debated.
The researched reading
Real medieval tunnels dug by people whose purpose was forgotten, and folklore filled the gap. The open question is which human purpose they served.
| Explanation | Weight | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Undetermined | 48% | The share a generic explanation had beyond what has been shown for this case: it fits many cases like this one, but has not been demonstrated for this one. |
| A cultural story | 40% | The tunnels are clearly dug by people. Charcoal and finds date them mostly to the 10th–12th centuries. Hiding places, refuges or ritual “soul” spaces are all human purposes. The dwarf and goblin names are folklore attached after their use was forgotten. |
| A known natural phenomenon | 4% | Natural cavities or animal burrows may have been enlarged in a few cases. |
| A hoax or fabrication | 2% | No sign of fabrication: hundreds of sites are documented. |
| Perception, memory or mind | 2% | Not relevant to the tunnels themselves. |
| Something in the surroundings | 2% | Not relevant. |
| Genuinely anomalous | 2% | Their purpose is debated, but they are certainly human-made. |
Official position: Archaeologists describe them as medieval human-made tunnels of uncertain purpose.