Topic: Mound Builders

Experts examine Dunbar Cave graffiti; questions asked, answered

By Debbie Boen | January 12, 2008 |

When you see the amount of graffiti on the walls inside Dunbar Cave, you can’t help but feel shameful about that horrible violation to the cave.

Thousands of scribbled signatures cover the fragile walls of this living underground environment. One visitor commented, “I wonder if there was a time when each person was handed a marker as they were going into the cave?” Visitors also see little of natural stalactites or stalagmites; many of them were taken down either through vandalism or for grinding up into mineral waters.

Nathan Smith, David Britton and Ranger Adam Neblett

A one-quarter mile length of cave on the tour shows very tiny drips of new growth on the ceilings and floors. The cave owners since 1973, the State of Tennessee, have been preserving the cave from vandalism. «Read the rest of this article»

Sections: Arts and Leisure | No Comments