Crazy Woman Cave, Northern Wyoming: Abraded Grooves and the Potential for Prehistoric Rock Art Among Modern Graffiti

Summary

An open cave in an active tourist area on the east side of the Bighorn Mountains is covered with intensive graffiti obscuring the original wall surface. However, inspection of the cave walls revealed earlier Native American grooves among and beneath modern incisions and paint. These figure are part of a common rock art theme dating back at least to the Late Archaic and continues into the Historic period, with grooves at this site probably made during the Late Prehistoric period. Although many archeologists originally thought grooves mostly resulted from tool sharpening, a set of distinctive characteristics recognized by previous researchers demonstrate some, like those here, have a non-secular function on the Northern Plains. They were apparently made in association with ritual abrading activities. This cave also shows valdalized sites should not be written off or ignored without intensive inspection, especially when the setting is typical for prehistoric rock art.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Wyoming Archaeologist 2020

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Contact(s): Marcia Peterson

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