The Cave As Archive — What Remains Unknown

Mammoth Cave’s dry upper passages have been called one of the best-preserved archaeological archives in North America.

The claim is not exaggeration.

In an environment where temperature and humidity remain constant year-round, where no liquid water disturbs the sediment and the artifacts, where the same conditions that preserved the minerals the ancient miners collected also preserved the tools and the containers and the footprints of the miners themselves — the cave holds a record that most outdoor archaeological sites cannot approach.

But archives are not complete just because they are well preserved.