File:American Indian artifact (Main Cave, Mammoth Cave, Kentucky, USA) 5 (38238047686).jpg
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Summary
[edit]DescriptionAmerican Indian artifact (Main Cave, Mammoth Cave, Kentucky, USA) 5 (38238047686).jpg |
The object shown here is a piece of wood used as a torch by prehistoric American Indians to access and collect gypsum crusts in western Kentucky's Mammoth Cave, the longest cave on Earth. As of fall 2017, 412 miles worth of passages have been explored and mapped. Known prehistoric Indian activities in Mammoth Cave include gypsum "mining" (= chipping away at gypsum speleothem crusts on the walls of cave passages) and chert/flint "mining" (= whacking pieces of chert nodules from cave walls and ceilings; chert nodules are relatively common in some of the stratigraphic intervals exposed at Mammoth Cave). The chert was knapped and used to make various tools and/or projectile points. The cave was also used for burial purposes. Some Indian burial sites with preserved, desiccated bodies have been discovered in the Mammoth Cave System, including some non-buried "mummies". One such body was discovered only recently, in the 2000s, along an active tourist trail. Indian artifacts were formerly abundant in Mammoth Cave - many have been removed over the last 200 years. Modern Mammoth Cave archaeologists and park officials are hypersecretive about current archaeological research and discoveries in the cave. Watson Trace is a relatively recently-discovered stretch of Mammoth Cave just off Audubon Avenue. It was never disturbed in historic times (late 1700s to 1990s) and is still rich in Indian artifacts. The entrance is low and not observable on modern tours. The passage entrance is reportedly sealed off with a grate. The most commonly encountered artifacts are cane reeds, which were used as torches. Discarded burned reeds can be seen along some modern tourist trails. Caches of unused cane reeds have also been found. This wooden torch was jammed into a rock crevice near the ceiling of this cave passage. The light given off would have been sufficient for several gypsum collectors in the area. Locality: Main Cave, Mammoth Cave, western Kentucky, USA |
Date | |
Source | American Indian artifact (Main Cave, Mammoth Cave, Kentucky, USA) 5 |
Author | James St. John |
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This image was originally posted to Flickr by James St. John at https://flickr.com/photos/47445767@N05/38238047686 (archive). It was reviewed on 13 October 2019 by FlickreviewR 2 and was confirmed to be licensed under the terms of the cc-by-2.0. |
13 October 2019
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current | 17:41, 13 October 2019 | 2,304 × 1,296 (1,015 KB) | Ser Amantio di Nicolao (talk | contribs) | Transferred from Flickr via #flickr2commons |
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Metadata
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Camera manufacturer | SONY |
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Camera model | HDR-PJ10 |
Exposure time | 1/30 sec (0.033333333333333) |
F-number | f/2.4 |
Date and time of data generation | 11:40, 14 August 2012 |
Lens focal length | 20 mm |
Width | 2,304 px |
Height | 1,296 px |
Bits per component |
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Pixel composition | RGB |
Orientation | Normal |
Number of components | 3 |
Horizontal resolution | 72 dpi |
Vertical resolution | 72 dpi |
Software used | Adobe Photoshop Elements 13.0 (Macintosh) |
File change date and time | 15:33, 9 November 2017 |
Exposure Program | Normal program |
Exif version | 2.3 |
Date and time of digitizing | 11:40, 14 August 2012 |
Meaning of each component |
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Image compression mode | 2 |
APEX shutter speed | 4.906891 |
APEX aperture | 2.526069 |
APEX exposure bias | 0 |
Maximum land aperture | 1.7 APEX (f/1.8) |
Metering mode | Pattern |
Light source | Unknown |
Flash | Flash did not fire, No flash function |
Supported Flashpix version | 1 |
Color space | sRGB |
File source | Digital still camera |
Scene type | A directly photographed image |
Custom image processing | Normal process |
Exposure mode | Auto exposure |
White balance | Auto white balance |
Digital zoom ratio | 1 |
Scene capture type | Night scene |
Contrast | Normal |
Saturation | Normal |
Sharpness | Normal |
Date metadata was last modified | 10:33, 9 November 2017 |
Unique ID of original document | BB0D427FAF2846A2A959AEE5D11EE100 |
IIM version | 2 |