text: Romania Dugouts called Bordei were widely used on the territory of Romania since the Neolithic until mid-20th century. They were wide-spread in the plains, such as on the Romanian Plain, where dwellers could use cheap construction materials such as pit, wood and straw, but more durable materials such as stone were rare and expensive. Similar dug-outs were used in the neighbouring regions of the wider Eurasian Steppe, e.g. in Ukraine, where they were known as Burdei.
  Scotland
  In ancient Scotland, earth houses, also known as yird, Weems and Picts' houses, were underground dwellings, extant even after the Roman evacuation of Britain. Entry was effected by a passage not much wider than a fox burrow, which sloped downwards 10 or 12 ft. to the floor of the house; the inside was oval in shape, and was walled with overlapping rough stone slabs; the roof frequently reached to within a foot of the Earth's surface; they probably served as storehouses, winter quarters, and as places of refuge in times of war. Similar dwellings are found in Ireland.
  Serbia
  In Serbia they are called zemunica. Also, the town of Zemun derived its name from Zemln, which is akin to zemunica.
  Spain
  The most famous feature of the town of Guadix is the cave dwellings in the Barrio.