Massive Native American drawings – which remained unseen in an Alabama cave for more than 1,000 years – have been unveiled by a team of scientists. The large artwork was discovered in the 19th Unnamed Cave in Alabama, which has been kept anonymous to protect the site from vandalism. Read the full CNN article here

The carvings in this Alabama cave, which may show spirits of the dead, are almost invisible. Photographer Stephen Alvarez has revealed them using advanced photographic techniques. Read the full NBC article here

Authors Jan F. Simek, Stephen Alvarez, and Alan Cressler argue that photogrammetry offers untapped potential for not simply the documentation but also the discovery of a variety of archaeological phenomena. Read the full Antiquity article here

Author Jan Simek said explains this new discovery “changes our perspective on what might be in these caves…. It brings the cave art of the southeast into the discussion of other monumental images that we see in different parts of North America." Read the full MSN article here

The newly discovered glyphs are so massive that they weren’t previously noticed as discrete artworks. By scanning the entire cave ceiling, the researchers were able to stitch together images of artworks that cannot be observed in their totality in person, given the cave’s low ceiling.  Read the full Gizmodo article here

The fact that these drawings were made on such a large scale, and in such a difficult to reach location, suggests a strong degree of intention behind their creation. “It wasn’t doodling,” Simek says. “They had to lay them out, at least in their head, and maybe even a little bit on the wall, in order to be able to draw them the way they did.” Read the full Smithsonian article here

The presence of massive rock art in the Southeast “just emphasizes that ideas are flowing back and forth across this continent before European contact,” says Alvarez.  Read the full National Geographic article here