Tongass National Forest

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Archaeology, Paleontology and Monitoring

As you walk farther into the cave, the rooms begin to increase in size and the passageway opens up. A passage to the right leads into an area referred to as the steam room. We use this passageway to help monitor visitor impacts. Scientists can compare this passage, which has little or no visitation, to the main passage that receives up to 700 visitors per year.

This is also an area where archaeologists have found evidence of humans using the cave over 3000 years ago. At the same time, ancient Greeks were prospering on the shores of the Mediterranean. Archaeologists found spruce charcoal along the ledge on the left side of the passage. This charcoal may be the remains of spruce torches placed to light the corridor. Back a little farther, they found what appear to be the remains of a juvenile otter wrapped in cedar bark and buried. Also found in the area were two black obsidian points and more charcoal. Archaeologists used carbon dating to determine the age of these remains. They know that humans were using this cave as early as 3,400 years ago, based on dates from the otter bones and the charcoal.

Archaeologists and paleontologists have made several discoveries in the Southeast Alaska that have led them to believe that the coast contained some ice-free land areas during the last glacial maximum.

Brown bear and black bear bones were found in a hibernacula in the upper reaches of El Capitan Cave, some 400 feet above present sea level. The hibernacula contained the remains of at least four black bears and three brown bears. These remains were left 12,300 to 6,400 years ago. The bones of these bears were stained a deep mahogany red and some were extremely well preserved. Bones from black bears found in other caves on northern Prince of Wales Island have been dated to 41,600 years ago, while the bones of brown bears have been dated to 35,363 years ago. In another cave a marmot tooth was found that was dated to more than 44,500 years ago. Marmots and brown bears don't live on Prince of Wales Island today.

Many other animals, which do not exist on the island any longer, have been found in several caves in the area. These animals include: caribou, ringed seal, arctic and red fox, wolverine, siaga antelope, heather vole and lemmings. From this evidence of extensive habitation by terrestrial and marine mammals and birds, scientists infer that humans could have survived in this area during that time period.

Other indicators of an early coastal refuge include remnants of Pleistocene plant communities in alpine areas and greater genetic variation in chum salmon populations. Surveys of caves reveal passages that predate the end of the Pleistocene. They would have been crushed by the weight of the ice had they been glaciated at the end of the Pleistocene.

Caves preserve all these organic artifacts and fossils from decay, with their constant cool temperatures, stable environment, and basic, non-acidic pH levels. These keys to the past are sheltered from weather, wind, animals, and people who might destroy or move them.

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USDA Forest Service - Tongass National Forest Accessibility Statement
Last Modified: July 11, 2007