Mud glyphs pictured in the"19th Unnamed Cave" in Alabama. Credit: Alan Cressler via Storyful
"Since its discovery in the mid-19th century, ancient cave art has captured the world's imagination," the researchers said. The team noted how the large figures recently unveiled may have represented "spirits of the underworld, their power and importance expressed in their shape, size and context." The sprawling mud glyphs were inscribed on a cave room’s ceiling, which is so low that a person must crouch or crawl to move through the space. These larger images remained hidden from the naked eye until researchers used a technique called photogrammetry, a process in which thousands of photographs are taken and then used to build a 3D model.
The artwork is found in the cave’s dark zone, or the deepest and darkest part of the cave that receives no sunlight. The researchers noted how cave art is a unique feature of eastern North American pre-history, writing that Native Americans who lived in this part of the country used caves "as sacred places."
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