Have there ever any fancy old stone booby-trap places like in Indiana Jones films, or has that never been seen in historical digs and discoveries?

by [deleted]
SecondTalon

You can search the subreddit for similar questions (I used the words "booby trap" though given thread titles, "Indiana Jones" would work too) but that does take a little sifting as there's threads about WWI trench warfare and the like mixed in.

Still, as a highlights reel -

A collection of links from /u/soulstealer1984

A description of an actual trap maybe kinda sorta by /u/toldinstone, though this is more about hidden chambers than booby traps

Here's a breakdown of them not existing by /u/kookingpot, describing how the idea of booby traps may come from early explorers misunderstanding what they were looking at. Though a later reply does mention stories of them, that's all they are - stories. None have been discovered.

You might have an interest in this thread about weapons sitting unused for long periods of time, which originally did describe a "Rolling boulder booby trap" but the thread itself is generally "Unexploded ordinance found a half century or more later explodes, killing someone" in it's content. Somewhat related in that they were weapons that became booby traps, but none were intentionally placed to defend a tomb.

This thread discusses how ancient artifacts are recovered, but you'll want to focus on answers by /u/Mictlantecuhtli (Mesoamerican perspective) and /u/itsallfolklore (European and American West) who both state that no tomb has been found with booby traps - the closest Mictlantechuhtli can think of being a poisonous substance used to construct a tomb lid that was decorative, not meant to be a functional killer.

The long and the short of it is - it's mostly a fabrication of pulp novels and filmmakers, and historical references to them appear to be mythical - stories of stories of stories, as none have been found.