The bundles had to be transported to the cave entrance and carried inside.

A torch bundle used for underground navigation would have been roughly a foot or more long and perhaps two inches in diameter — enough material to burn for thirty minutes to an hour, depending on conditions, and manageable enough to hold in one hand while the other hand was used for climbing or carrying.

Longer trips, or trips involving extended mining work, would require multiple bundles per person.

The preparation of torch material was itself a skilled activity, and it was almost certainly someone’s specific job — or at least a specific phase of preparation before an underground expedition.