The cloth associated with his remains was later dated — through radiocarbon dating methods — to approximately 445 BCE, placing him firmly within the period of intensive mining activity that the broader archaeological evidence at Mammoth Cave documents.

This date is for the textile associated with his body, not the man himself, and archaeological dating always carries margins of error, but it puts him squarely within the timeline established by the torch fragments and the other datable materials from the mining period.

His stomach contents — hickory nuts and sunflower seeds — indicate he ate before going underground, or carried food with him to eat during the work.

The food was not exotic; it was the standard gathered plant material of his people’s diet.