mud glyph snake in unnamed cave 19

The Unnamed Caves are one of the initiatives that the Ancient Art Archive is working on this year. Across the Southeast, there are prehistoric art caves. The locations are closely guarded secrets (hence the name) and the art in the caves tends to be faint. However, using the 3D imaging techniques that the Archive is pioneering we can see the images more clearly and in some instances see them for the first time at all.

TPS photographer Stephen Alvarez started the Ancient Art Archive to help people explore and preserve humanity’s oldest stories.

We are working closely with Jan Simek at the University of Tennessee on this project.

John Jeremiah Sullivan wrote a wonderful profile of the Jan’s work in the Paris Review.

Of course, all our work is supported by donations. Please consider a gift to help preserve this fragile legacy.