<< Our Photo Pages >> Russell Cave - Cave or Rock Shelter in United States in The South
Submitted by bat400 on Thursday, 02 April 2020 Page Views: 17483
Natural PlacesSite Name: Russell CaveCountry: United States
NOTE: This site is 9.006 km away from the location you searched for.
Region: The South Type: Cave or Rock Shelter
Nearest Town: Bridgeport, Alabama Nearest Village: Mount Carmel, Alabam
Latitude: 34.977600N Longitude: 85.8105W
Condition:
5 | Perfect |
4 | Almost Perfect |
3 | Reasonable but with some damage |
2 | Ruined but still recognisable as an ancient site |
1 | Pretty much destroyed, possibly visible as crop marks |
0 | No data. |
-1 | Completely destroyed |
5 | Superb |
4 | Good |
3 | Ordinary |
2 | Not Good |
1 | Awful |
0 | No data. |
5 | Can be driven to, probably with disabled access |
4 | Short walk on a footpath |
3 | Requiring a bit more of a walk |
2 | A long walk |
1 | In the middle of nowhere, a nightmare to find |
0 | No data. |
5 | co-ordinates taken by GPS or official recorded co-ordinates |
4 | co-ordinates scaled from a detailed map |
3 | co-ordinates scaled from a bad map |
2 | co-ordinates of the nearest village |
1 | co-ordinates of the nearest town |
0 | no data |
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bat400 has visited here
The cave entrance is made of twin openings. An ancient rock fall in the right hand side raised the level of both floor and ceiling and shunted the creek that helped form the cave to the left hand side. This led to the formation of an ideal location for housekeeping. The later deposits were both the debris of living and sand or earth brought into the cave to level the floor and to perhaps "clean up."
In 1953 Paul Brown, an engineer and member of the Tennessee Archeological Society surveying for power lines, was shown the cave when he told locals he was interested in Indian artifacts. With other society members they conducted limited digs and published their findings. Realizing their inability to conduct a more extensive dig the group contacted the Smithsonian Institution. Joint digs supported by the Smithsonian and the National Geographic Society (which leased the land) followed and were reported in both academic journals and in multiple articles in the National Geographic Magazine. The NGS purchased more of the surrounding land and in 1960 presented the site to the American People. Russell Cave was declared a National Historical Monument in 1961.
Finds include some Mississippian era jewelry of shells and incised stone as well as fragments of pottery and bone and shell food remains. From the Woodland period there were numerous fragments of stone and bone tools including fish hooks, projectiles points associated with bow and arrow technology, food remains, pottery and a charred basket of lambsquarter seeds. The finds of the Archaic period include many varieties of stone and bone hunting and food preparation tools as well as tools for making these points, knives, scrapers, awls and axes. Mortars, pestles, bone pins and awls were found in addition to pieces from atlatl. Bones indicated a wide variety of food animals including all animals historically known in the area as well as peccaries and porcupines (historically found only in the south west and north, respectively.)
Nine burials have been found within the cave, all from the Archaic period, all without grave goods. These burials ranged from a young man killed by having been shot in the back, to a very young infant, to an older woman.
Some finds are from artifacts particular to cave living. Post impressions imply that tents or lean-tos were used inside the cave, probably to keep water condensation off of supplies or sleeping areas. Flat cane mats were used to keep people and goods off the dirt floor. Bear legs bones were hollowed out and handled on one end only. Similar bone "candles" have been made by people in the far north. Filled with fat and twine or rawhide as a wick they served as a reusable torch.
For many years the main excavation cut was preserved with a ramp and marked layers of deposits for view to the visiting public. By the 1990's this had begun to deteriorate and was becoming both difficult to interpret, difficult to stabilize, and a possible health hazard. As a result the cut was filled in. Today the cave living area itself can be seen. There is a small but interesting museum describing the finds, and a nature trail that describes the geology, plant and animal life of the area. The beautiful wooded area is also known for bird watching.
Park website
[Information from "Russell Cave National Monument Official Map and Guide," National Park Service, US Department of Interior, 1999, "Life at Russell Cave," Dorothy Marsh, 1980, articles from The National Geographic Magazine, Carl F. Miller, October 1956 and March 1958, and park rangers at the site, July 13, 2006.]
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