Any of these hypotheses could be true.

They could also all be partially true simultaneously.

The cessation of mining, like the beginning of mining, is an archaeological fact without a clear documented cause.

What is certain is that the cave was abandoned — as a working environment, as a deliberate destination — and that it remained abandoned for two thousand years.

When The Cave Was Re-Entered — And What Changed

The re-entry of Mammoth Cave by European Americans in the late eighteenth century happened in a completely different context from the ancient mining — different people, different purposes, different technologies, different understanding of what the cave was.