Among the most evocative of all the evidence preserved inside Mammoth Cave are the footprints.

In the soft sediment that fills portions of the cave’s passages — sediment laid down by ancient water and not disturbed since — the footprints of ancient miners are visible.

Bare feet in some passages.

Sandal-sole impressions in others.

The size distribution of footprints has been examined by researchers, and the patterns are consistent with a mostly adult male population engaged in the mining activities, though the evidence also suggests that other individuals — women, adolescents — may have been part of some underground parties.

The footprints in the soft cave sediment have survived for thousands of years because nothing disturbed the sediment after the people who made them walked through.