The Bones Of The Argument — What Watson’s Research Actually Established

Patty Jo Watson’s work at Mammoth Cave and the nearby Salts Cave, beginning in 1963, established several findings that have shaped the subsequent understanding of prehistoric cave use in the region.

The most important methodological contribution was Watson’s introduction of systematic archaeological method to the cave environment.

Cave archaeology had been conducted before, but not with the rigor and comprehensiveness that Watson and her colleagues applied.

They documented artifact distributions across wide areas rather than focusing on single spectacular finds.