The Cave as Time Capsule

The limestone cave that held Shuká Káa’s remains for 10,300 years functioned as an accidental but remarkably effective time capsule.

The combination of physical characteristics that made the cave a good time capsule — its limestone chemistry, its cool and stable internal temperature, its protection from direct rainfall and freeze-thaw cycling — were not designed for the purpose.

They were simply the physical properties of a limestone cavity in a temperate maritime climate.

But accidental as those properties were, their effect was real and consequential.