Tennessee cave's historic Mississippian charcoal drawings possibly damaged after flood
It isn't yet clear if Dunbar Cave State Park's Mississippian Native American charcoal drawings have been permanently damaged after almost six inches of rain fell in Clarksville Feb. 15, causing the cave to flood. But, officials do know the 800-year-old drawings were completely submerged during the flooding and have been left buried in a coating of mud as the waters have receded.
"Both boardwalks inside Dunbar Cave were picked up by water and moved from their locations. Inches of mud coats every surface, even the ceiling in one room. Several bats drowned," officials posted of the flooding Feb. 24 on the park's Facebook page.
The state is currently assessing the potential damage to the cave and tribal art, Tennessee Environment and Conservation Senior Communication Advisor Jennifer Donnals said.
"The cave reached six feet of water and although it has subsided, (the cave) remains closed," Donnals said. It was an historic level of flooding for a cave dripping with history, Donnals said, noting the water reached two to three feet higher than it did during the Flood of 2010, when the prior record was set.
But, flooding at Dunbar isn't a rare occurrence.
The Feb. 14 flooding is the third such event in less than a year, park officials say. It's a problem they attribute to climate change and ongoing development in the Clarksville area.
Although floodwaters naturally recede, the massive amount of rainfall that led to the flooding at Dunbar has caused an underground river to form, officials explained.
The cave is widely known for its cave drawings, which were discovered in 2005. Historians discovered the drawings by accident as they were trying to document historical graffiti in the cave.
Any possible damages to the drawings caused by the recent flooding would be due to sediment from the rushing water. Removal of the mud coating that's left behind would need to take place before damage assessments can be made, however.
"This has potential to significantly delay the cave tour season, and likely will. It's an emotional scene inside the cave for our rangers, but our number one job is to preserve, protect, and share Dunbar Cave — and we will. We are working with our partners to assess damages and plan a path forward for repair and conservation," park officials said on Facebook.
Park Ranger Adam Neblett told The USA Today Network-Tennessee in 2021 that Dunbar Cave is the only place in the world the public can see Native American cave art.
The sacred artwork is protected so much that the public must refrain from taking pictures during tours.
The park has worked thoroughly with Native American tribes like the Eastern Band of Cherokee to learn more about the Mississippian culture, something which no longer exists, Neblett said in 2021.
There are 40 charcoal drawings inside Dunbar Cave, about 200 yards from the entrance. Their meanings remain a mystery as the Mississippian culture dates back about 1,000 to 500 years ago.
Carbon dating on the drawings and torch fragments date the charcoal paintings inside the cave to around 700 years ago, with carbon tests estimating the drawings to 1350 A.D., plus or minus 50 years, Neblett said in 2021.
Reach reporter Craig Shoup by email at cshoup@gannett.com and on X @Craig_Shoup. To support his work, sign up for a digital subscription to www.tennessean.com.
This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Tennessee cave flooding leaves 800-year-old drawings in jeopardy
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Associated Press
2 hours ago
- Associated Press
Pakistan issues flood alert for southern districts as rescuers search for missing in the northwest
BUNER, Pakistan (AP) — Pakistan issued a flood alert Wednesday for some southern districts, warning of torrential rains, as rescue teams continued searching for missing people in the country's northwest, where severe floods killed hundreds over the past week. The new warning is for the same southern regions struck by climate-induced catastrophic deluges in 2022 that killed thousands of people. The National Emergencies Operation Centre said expected rainfall of up to 100 millimeters (about 4 inches) over the next 24 hours could submerge highways, disrupt transport, and damage power and telecommunications networks in Karachi, Hyderabad, Thatta, Badin, Mirpurkhas, and Sukkur in the southern province of Sindh. At least 41 people have been killed in rain-related incidents nationwide over the past 24 hours, the disaster management agency said, mostly in the northern Gilgit-Baltistan region and in the city of Karachi, where torrential rains on Tuesday flooded streets and disrupted daily life. Schools in Karachi remain closed. Pakistan has suffered above-normal monsoon rains, killing at least 746 people since June 26. Meanwhile, rescuers in the northwest pressed on with a grim search for nearly 150 people missing in the district of Buner, where floodwaters carrying massive boulders and mud swept through villages, flattening homes and leaving piles of rubble. Search teams aided by army sniffer dogs pulled more bodies from the debris as anxious relatives looked on. Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and the country's powerful army chief, Field Marshal Asim Munir, were scheduled to visit flood-hit areas in Swat Valley and Buner later Wednesday. Mohammad Suhail, a spokesman for the emergency services, said the death toll in Buner has climbed to 290 after more bodies were recovered. Rescue teams managed to distribute tents, blankets, cooking utensils, ready-to-eat food, and clean drinking water in the area, he said, as others worked on restoring power in the devastated zone. Most of the damaged roads have been reopened in Buner. Survivors recounted horrific stories of sudden floodwaters that carried boulders and barely allowed people to run to safer grounds. Many residents have blamed the government for not issuing an early warning. ___ Associated Press writer Riaz Khan in Peshawar, Pakistan, contributed to this report.
CBS News
14 hours ago
- CBS News
Hundreds of homes in northwest Indiana flooded during heavy storms
Homeowners in northwest Indiana were cleaning up Tuesday, after heavy storms on Monday caused water to overflow from the sewer system into their basements. Every few seconds in Hammond, spurts of water pour out of the basement Paulina Reillo and her husband finished only a year ago, as they pump out water that flooded it Monday night. "Our dining room table, chairs, the couch for sure, all of the cabinets," all got wet during the storm. No one expects their home to flood, but Reillo said she was really surprised, because they paid to seal their basement, along with other measures, to make sure this wouldn't happen. "Those little gutters and everything to direct the water away from the house," she said. "We've got our sump pump in there." At least 200 homes across Hammond were dealing with similar messes on Tuesday. Intense rain on Monday night created a headache for people on the roads, too. Theodore Coules said he got stuck as water began to rise not far from the Indiana Toll Road. Coules flew his drone to assess the situation, and decided to stay put to stay safe. Mother Nature didn't spare St. Mary Byzantine Catholic Church in nearby Whiting, either. The banquet hall took on at least an inch of water after its sump pump failed. "We've taken great lengths to make this hall water-tight. We re-did the drainage back in 2019 from the roof on down, and it really solved most of the seepage problems, but some things you can't expect or plan for, like when a breaker breaks," Father Andrew Summerson said. Approximately 400 miles of sewer pipes in northwest Indiana are controlled by the Hammond Sanitary District. Officials said their system is designed to handle 68 million gallons of water when it rains, but 160 million gallons came through during Monday night's storm. That's the most they've had in the past five years. The Hammond Sanitary District offers a program to help prevent basement backups. Homeowners can get reimbursed $2,000 if they get a valve installed that shuts if backflow starts to build up in the sewer system. A licensed plumber must complete the job and file the proper paperwork. The average cost for a project like this is about $3,400 (before reimbursement).
New York Times
16 hours ago
- New York Times
Once a Source of Life and Renewal, Monsoon Brings Death to Pakistan
Walking to his local mosque in northern Pakistan, Abdul Samad cast worried looks at a stream he had never seen so agitated and choked with debris. When he stepped outside again 10 minutes later, the mountain village that was his lifelong home had been nearly erased. Swollen by pummeling rainfall, the stream had turned into a roaring torrent that swept mud, rocks and fallen trees through the village of Beshonai on Friday, crushing, burying or washing away everything in its path. Out of 210 homes, only 25 remain standing, according to local officials. 'Houses, fields of maize, everything was gone. All I saw were boulders upon boulders,' said Mr. Samad, an imam in his mid 40s. His wife and daughter were swept away with the family home and killed. His mother's body was not found until Monday, three miles downstream. The monsoon season, once revered as a source of life and renewal, has brought death and devastation across large parts of Pakistan, a South Asian nation of 250 million people. Monsoons have killed more than 700 people nationwide since the season began in late June. This increasingly frequent pattern is forcing Pakistan to reckon with a new reality: Destruction brought by extreme weather has become the norm, not the exception. In northern Pakistan, floods cascaded down mountain slopes last week, eradicating entire villages. Boulders and pine trees smashed through houses. Mud swallowed whole families. Beshonai Kabul AFGHANISTAN Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Quetta PAKISTAN IRAN INDIA Arabian Sea 200 miles By The New York Times Want all of The Times? Subscribe.
