On Your Knees Cave: Why a Cave?

The presence of a human individual’s remains in On Your Knees Cave raises a question that is worth addressing directly: why was he there?

Caves in the cultural traditions of many peoples around the world carry specific significance beyond their simple physical function as shelter.

They can be places of ceremony, of burial, of vision seeking, of resource storage, of safety during specific weather conditions or dangerous periods.

The specific significance that caves may have held for the early coastal peoples of the Alexander Archipelago is not directly recoverable from the archaeological evidence available from On Your Knees Cave.