Press
Saturday Night Live
Comedian Michael Che offered up his opinion about our recent discovery of massive cave art in Alabama during an early May 2022 Saturday Night Live show: “Archaeologists have discovered thousand-year-old drawings in caves in Alabama. Guys, they’re bad,” he joked during his segment of Weekend Update. We appreciate the joke! The laugh line comes in at about 1 minute 15 seconds in the video below.
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USA Today: Scientists use 3D technology to uncover largest collection of ancient Native American cave art
Scientists took thousands of high-tech photos to scan the ceiling of the cave in Alabama to create a 3D model. Photographer Stephen Alvarez explains that thanks to 3D modeling, “a story that was laid down a thousand plus years ago and has been invisible can now be seen in its entirety." Read the full USA Today article here
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The New York Times: In Alabama’s ‘19th Unnamed Cave,’ a Trove of Ancient Dark-Zone Art
Researchers using 3-D technology brought to light an array of art in an Alabama cave, including a serpent, flying creatures and humanoid figures in regalia. Read the full The New York Times article here
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The Guardian: Largest US cave figures, about 1,000 years old, discovered in Alabama
In a study published on Tuesday in the journal Antiquity, researchers revealed that a cave in the northern Alabama countryside is home to carvings dating back about 1,000 years. Read the full The Guardian article here
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ARTnews: The Largest Cave Drawings in North America Have Been Found in Alabama
The five large figures discovered include three anthropomorphs (humanlike figures), one swirling, enigmatic figure, and a snake, most likely an eastern diamondback rattlesnake that was sacred to southeast Indigenous people of the time. Read the full ARTnews article here
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ArtNet: Archaeologists Have Revealed North America’s Largest Cave Paintings in Rural Alabama Through the Magic of 3D Imaging
The 19th Unnamed Cave “allows a brief glimpse into the genius of these artists,” said Stephen Alvarez, the founder of the Ancient Art Archive and the producer of an animated model of the cave available to view online. Read the full ArtNet article here
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Science: Largest Native American Cave Art Revealed by 3D Scans
The newly described figures share characteristics with other rock art formations in the southeast, like cliff drawings at Alabama’s Painted Bluff, and also in the Southwest, like the humanlike pictographs in Canyonlands National Park. The figures are also similar to those found on Woodland-style pottery. Read the full Science article here
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CNN: Unexpected discovery of mysterious drawings could change the way scientists look at cave art
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
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NBC News: America’s largest cave figures discovered in Alabama
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
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Antiquity: Discovering ancient cave art using 3D photogrammetry: pre-contact Native American mud glyphs from 19th Unnamed Cave, Alabama
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
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MSN: Largest Cave Art Images in US by Indigenous Americans Discovered in Alabama
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
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Gizmodo: Largest Cave Art in North America Discovered in Alabama
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
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Smithsonian: 3D Scans Reveal Gigantic Native American Cave Art in Alabama
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
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National Geographic: 3D Cave Scans Reveal Largest Cave Art in North America
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
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National Parks Conservation Association: The Writing on the Wall
The National Parks Magazine offers an in-depth look into Stephen Alvarez’s journey founding the Ancient Art Archive and preserving and sharing humanity’s oldest stories. Read the full National Parks Conservation Association article here
Read moreThe New York Times: 5 Accounts to Follow on Instagram Now
Critic Martha Schwendener refers to the Ancient Art Archive’s Instagram feed as an “indispensable portal to the inspiring and the miraculous.” Read the full The New York Times article here
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