A Scholarly Assessment of the Motive, Nature, and Construction of Ancient Nord Cities from Observations of the Modern Ruins

Note: This was prepared as a response to a comment by /u/Urtel, on the thread, Ancient Nord "Cities" by /u/Hrulj. As that thread is archived I have posted this response as it's own thread. Below is an except from /u/Urtel's comment:

"From what i figured, generally we encounter ruins that served as ritual or military constructions. Outposts, overlooks, temples, grand underground burial grounds and even entire strongholds (or even both combined). But none of these places actually look like proper city. That being said, dwemer cities dont look like actual cities either. Granted, some of them have places called "living quarters" but it hardly represents actual living rooms. However, nordic ruins also have places that look like living areas."

 

Don't forget the prevalence of dragons, even with the coexistence (or subservience) of men and dragons facilitated by the Dragon Priests, I'd imagine that the Nords would've felt safer, more 'at home,' in buildings which offered some protection from the wrath of dragons or from the 'debates' between dragons.

 

In our world we have discovered (more and more as time goes on) enormous underground complexes capable of housing and sustaining populations of thousands (I think the largest estimate for one of these complexes is about 5000 people for several years if food was stored in sufficient amount) dating from truly ancient times, if my memory serves some dating from approximately 3000 years ago (search Google for Anatolian underground cities)

 

Given that these real world complexes are carved from stone, the largely dirt and wood construction of the Nord ruins (with Stone supports and façades) should've been entirely doable. Given the climate and the types of stone (hard Granites and few clay deposits, no bricks) we see through most of skyrim, these kind of underground buildings would've likely been the best way for the Nords to construct large buildings for religious, military and governmental purposes that were also relatively sheltered from Dragons.

 

From Labyrinthian's surface we can see multiple stone hut type buildings, given the amount of work for subsistence necessary for early Nords in a hostile, unsettled land, and the many communal spaces we see in the surviving Nord ruins (multiple dining halls which individually could seat 20-30 Nords, lecture and prayer halls with similar capacities, and relatively open spaces with no obvious defined role that could've served as market spaces or places for other impromptu gatherings), it is entirely plausible that the lower status Nords 'lived' in the simple stone huts but spent most of their waking time working or engaged in various activities inside the existing ruins. The spaces in the surviving Nord Ruins which are ascribed as living spaces would've been largely for the high status Nords, the thanes, housecarls and mages, who would've likewise spent much of their time in the more communal areas. Nord society at this time was likely much more communal with personal property extending to a relatively small number of objects, largely focused around warfare and private space such as we see among modern Nords a privilege largely reserved for only the highest status Nords such as kings, jarls, and priests.

 

Consider also two futher points: firstly that all the dirt that was excavated for the existing ruins had to go somewhere, it very well could've been used to rebury the constructed complex, making the task of building the complexes easier (since they would've been essentially constructed on the 'surface' and then reburied) and further fortifying them against mortal enemies and Dragons. The geography of many (but definitely not all, see the second point for a discussion of these) of the existing ruins certainly lends itself to this hypothesis, with many existing within a low hill or within the foothills of a mountain.

 

Second, we know that the relationship between dragons and man before the cruelty which set off the Dragon War was at least somewhat symbiotic, with dragons likely providing more to their human subjects than just a reprieve from dragon predation. While excavating such enormous amounts of earth would be an enormous undertaking for the Nords, if the dragons were to have applied either their brute strength or their powerful arcane language, it would've been something closer to a trifle. This would accord well with two facts:

 

(1) the earlier Nord ruins are built near/in existing natural features which would've made their excavation somewhat easier, or would've required less excavation than the finished structure might suggest (Saarthal being more or less at the bottom of a canyon), while the later structures, such as Ustengrav, are in decidedly more difficult environs which seem implausible excavation sites absent the aid of extensive magicks. It would also provide an explanation which requires no further physical evidence than has been found for the construction of the complexes which seem to descend straight down into plains or hard mountains (although these could've simply exploited existing cavities, which Dwemer ruins indicate are relatively common)

 

(2) Shortly after the Dragon War there does not appear to have been any further extensive underground structures built. Many of the structures which from the surface appear exactly like the typical Nord ruins, but possess only the surface edifice are likely from this time, being a cultural holdover or imitation of a type of construction which is no longer possible due to the absence of Dragons.