Mile 31.5 - Stanton's Cave

The Swain-Hatch “Dusty Dozen” river trip discovered several small animal figurines in Stanton’s Cave in 1934. The figurines, made from soaked willow stems, were created by splitting the stems lengthwise before twisting and wrapping the fibrous material until an animal figurine emerged. With little information about what past human group these “split-twigs” belonged to, the Swain-Hatch party assumed the artefacts to be children’s toys.

In 1954, archaeologist Robert C. Euler excavated Stanton’s Cave uncovering more than 100 split twig figurines. Many of these were pierced with tiny spears suggesting the figurines were used for ceremonial purposes, rather than as children’s toys. The split twigs were subsequently radiocarbon dated at 4,000 years old. This means they were made by members of what archaeologists refer to as the Desert Archaic, a cultural group of nomads who followed and hunted herds of game throughout the southwest. In addition to uncovering a trove of archaeological material, Euler excavated many paleontological remains such as a 15,000 year old teratorn skeleton (an ancient vulture species larger than California Condors), several 20,000 year old Harrington mountain goats, and a 43,000 year old driftwood stash; likely left behind by the waters of an ancient canyon lake.