Tainter Cave

Tainter Cave
U.S. National Register of Historic Places
NRHP Reference #	01000106
Added to NRHP	2001-05-08

Tainter Cave a.k.a. Tombstone Cave and Arnold's Cave is a sandstone cave in Crawford County, Wisconsin, in which prehistoric Native Americans carved petroglyphs and drew pictographs, including birds, men, deer, and abstract designs. With over 100 pictographs, the cave holds more than any other known site in Wisconsin. It is also notable as the first archaeological site recorded in the dark zone of a cave in the Upper Midwest.

The cave is in a layer of St. Peter Sandstone near the top of a ridge in the Driftless Area. From the east-facing side of the ridge, it penetrates over 175 feet to the southwest. The front of the first chamber is lit by natural light from the opening; the two chambers behind it are pitch black.

The cave had been known to locals and cavers for many years. In 1967 it was mapped by the Wisconsin Speleological Society, then under the name "Tombstone Cave." In 1993 local cave enthusiast Daniel Arnold wrote to the Mississippi Valley Archaeological Center that the cave had a diamond-shaped carving near the entrance, interesting historic carvings, drawings of animals and human figures, and birch torches. Professional archaeologists visited in 1998 and determined that many of the images among the graffiti were probably made by ancient American Indians.

Further Reading

• The MVAC website among the references above contains photos of some of the images in the cave.