The discovered figures may represent ghosts from the underworld, immortalized life-size in the darkest cavities of a cave.

Scientists have stumbled upon at least 1,000-year-old petroglyphs in a cave in the US state of Alabama. Meters of figures have been found on the ‘ceiling’ of the cave in question. “These glyphs are comparable in scale to the largest rock art found in several places on the North American continent,” the researchers said.

3D models

Revealing the drawings was not so easy. This is because the figures have become increasingly blurred over time. In addition, the cave where the drawings were found is very low. The researchers therefore used 3D models to reconstruct the cave. “This not only allowed us to bring to light previously unknown artworks, but also provide a complete picture of all the drawings that have been put on the ceiling,” the researchers write. “That way we can put them in context. And context is crucial if we want to unravel the true meaning of the figures.”

16,000 photos

To create the 3D model, no fewer than 16,000 overlapping photos were stitched together. Researcher Stephen Alvarez spent months crawling the bottom of the cave to take all the photos, then spent months in front of a computer building a detailed model of the cave.

Researcher Stephen Alvarez at work in the cave. Image: Alan Cressler

The hard work has not been in vain. Because in the end, Alvarez was able to put together an accurate map of the cave’s ceiling. Using clever software, he was even able to shine virtual ‘light’ on the ceiling from any angle, revealing the details of previously unknown works of art.


Fly through the cave in this video and see the discovered rock art.

figures

The researchers come across several very large (anthropomorphic) figures. In fact, the newly discovered rock art is so vast that even its creators could never fully admire it. For example, the researchers discovered the drawing below of a supposed rattlesnake, measuring up to 3.3 meters in length.

Snake figure with a round head and diamond-shaped body markings. The snake is 3.3 meters long. Image: photo taken by S. Alvarez; illustration made by J. Simek

“The size is really impressive,” the researchers say. “The artists must have worked from imagination and not from an unobstructed visual perspective.”

Illustrations of the discovered cave art. The figures are 0.93 meters, 2.12 meters, 1.80 meters and 2.80 meters in size respectively. Image: Jan Simek and Stephen Alvarez

Meaning

The meaning of the figures seems to correspond to previously discovered large rock art that can be found all over the continent. “Large anthropomorphic drawings found in North America share a ghostly shape, with complex clothing, headgear and facing the viewer,” the researchers said. “The figures seem to represent inhabitants of a supernatural world.” That’s not such a crazy theory, by the way. For example, the figures were found in the darkest cavities of the deep cave. In addition, caves used to be often considered paths to the underworld. “The figures probably represent ghosts from the underworld,” the researchers suspect. “Their power and importance is expressed in their shape and size.”

According to the researchers, the figures probably date from the Woodland period; an archaeological period and part of the formative period in the eastern United States and Canada, in which people lived mainly as hunter-gatherers. The figures presumably depict characters from previously unknown religious stories. Thanks to the discovery, the researchers hope to learn more and more about this culture. “We have succeeded in uncovering previously undetected and unknown great prehistoric cave art,” the researchers write in their studies† “These will certainly lead to new insights into ancient Native American cave art in North America.”