Archaeology Team Explores New Cave

Photo of Myrisa K. Byrd in cave
Myrisa K. Byrd in cave

Members of the UK team were asked to make the investigation after excavation for a water runoff drainage pond on the site, owned by the InterModal Transportation Authority (ITA), opened an entrance to the cave.

LEXINGTON, Ky. (March 3, 2005) -- A team of archaeologists from the University of Kentucky’s Department of Anthropology made three explorations in January and February of a newly discovered cave on property in Bowling Green where the TriModal Transpark is located.

George Crothers, assistant professor of anthropology and director of the UK William S. Webb Museum of Anthropology and Office of State Archaeology, said the remains of two adults, probably native Americans, were found in the cave located about a mile from Bowling Green. The remains included several long bones and fragments of a skull.

The very narrow cave also contained simple prehistoric scratched drawings known as “mudglyphs” and charcoal on the floor from torches that were apparently used by explorers to light their way through the approximately 2,000 feet of passageway, most of which was at “stoop level.” The drawing, a square with “X” hash marks through it, is a pattern Crothers said is typically found in caves. Other markings appear to be just straight or wavy lines where the early artist’s fingers might have been drawn through the soft limestone surface on the cave’s ceiling.

In addition to Crothers, the UK team included Myrisa K. Byrd, a recent UK anthropology graduate who is now an employee of the archaeological research program in anthropology, and Patrick Trader, acting director of the Program for Archaeological Research.

Crothers, a graduate of Washington University in St. Louis who has taught at UK since 2001, said the human remains were photographed and studied in place, but were left untouched where they were found. The cave has now been closed.

The original entrance to the cave was found during the exploration of the cave, Crothers said. It apparently had been closed, filled with rock and dirt, for many years. At that entrance, more accessible to wanderers in the past, the UK team found first names, including “Lester” scratched in the ceiling of the cave. Other names, which were unreadable, had been written with the soot from a burning candle.

Crothers said the two adult bodies might have been dropped into the cave through “pits” or “shafts” through the cave ceiling during prehistoric times, perhaps 200 to 500 years in the past. It is possible that the bodies were “defleshed” before being dropped through the holes, too, depending on the burial rituals of the people of the time.

“We are finding that the use of sinkholes and pit caves for burial sites was a common practice during prehistoric times in this part of the state,” Crothers added.

He said the bodies might be older than 500 years. “I wouldn't be surprised to find that they are up to 3,000 years old,” he commented. Charcoal samples from the site, including torch material, have been submitted to a laboratory for dating and that information will be part of a final report the team will submit to ITA, Crothers added.