Static Zombie

Some of the ancient Egyptian tombs DID have false corridors and hidden shafts to discourage intruders/thieves. Spring-loaded, pneumatic robot arms? Maybe not.

Meanwhile, more than a few of the cool/deadly devices in Raiders of the Lost Ark were pilfered from Wild Wild West.

I believe the death trap was really refined into the thing we think of today in the pulp magazines of the '30s and '40s, characterized by their frenetic, sensationalized, fast-paced stories. Later materials obviously drew on that, particularly the adventure movies and novels such as the Allan Quartermain stories, both in the '50s.

I think the pulps were built on a variety of sources, including the false corridors in pyramids mentioned previously, as well as the Incas who built pit traps as defensive mechanisms. They built defensive structures with pits that had floors above them that locked into place, so they could retreat into the building, unlock the floor pins, and any intruders would be dumped into spiked pits.

I believe I also recall something about traps and false passages being established in the catacombs of certain cities to prevent invaders from sneaking in through them.

Regardless, all such constructions I've heard of were intended as defensive mechanisms, either to protect the people already holding that location, or to protect items from being stolen.

According to the literary sources, the tomb of the first emperor of China was booby-trapped with crossbows. However, the tomb has never been entered in modern times, so who knows. It made for a good element in the old PC adventure game "The Riddle of Master Lu."

http://www.washingtontimes.com/world/20030605-094206-9277r.htm

The Rookerie in Dicken's London was a slum seeded with so many traps that the constables couldn't control it.

Ancient tombs with traps? The disease that decaying bodies cause is large enough of a deterrant already. Storming into a family vault and catching plague though is much less cinematic of a "trap".

I think of Çatal Hüyük, a neolitihic village that had a wall lying down the middle to lay out the dead on to be dessicated by birds until only bones were left, which were then buried in the house's floor.

Tombs seldom have anything of value buried in them (the needs of the living always seem to triumph), and then cultural taboos arise around specialized funeral goods. For instance coffins sell for $5,000-$12,000 each. You don't see people digging them up though, and no one wants a USED coffin.

The Rookerie in Dicken's London was a slum seeded with so many traps that the constables couldn't control it.

Ancient tombs with traps? The disease that decaying bodies cause is large enough of a deterrant already. Storming into a family vault and catching plague though is much less cinematic of a "trap".

I think of Çatal Hüyük, a neolitihic village that had a wall lying down the middle to lay out the dead on to be dessicated by birds until only bones were left, which were then buried in the house's floor.

Tombs seldom have anything of value buried in them (the needs of the living always seem to triumph), and then cultural taboos arise around specialized funeral goods. For instance coffins sell for $5,000-$12,000 each. You don't see people digging them up though, and no one wants a USED coffin.