Big Bone Cave

Big Bone Cave
Civil-war era saltpeter vat in Big Bone Cave
Location	Van Buren County, Tennessee, United States
Length	9.627 m (15.494 km)
Discovery	c. 1810
Geology	Monteagle Limestone
Entrances	2
List of entrances	Main Entrance (collapsed), Arch Cave Entrance
Hazards	histoplasmosis
Access	restricted
Website	TDEC: Big Bone Cave

Big Bone Cave
U.S. National Register of Historic Places

35°46′21″N 85°33′25″W / 35.7726°N 85.557°W / 35.7726; -85.557
Area	400 acres (160 ha)
NRHP reference No.	73001853
Added to NRHP	April 11, 1973

(Big) Bone Cave is a cave located in Van Buren County, Tennessee, in the community of Bone Cave that is named after it.^[1] It is notable both for its history and current recreational use. It is listed on the National Register of Historic Places and a designated National Natural Landmark.^[2] It is a 400-acre (161.9 ha) State Natural Area managed by Rock Island State Park.^[3] It is named for the discovery of the bones of a giant ground sloth in 1811. The cave was operated as a saltpeter mine, notably during the War of 1812 and the American Civil War. A variety of natural remains and human artifacts have been well preserved in the dry atmosphere of the cave. The cave is the 10th longest mapped cave in Tennessee.^[4]

Big Bone Cave formed in Mississippian Montegeale limestone originally on the western escarpment of the Cumberland Plateau. The cave formed prior to 5.7 ±1.09 Ma based in cosmogenic radionuclide dating of pebbles washed into the Muster Ground room.^[5] Long passages formed during a long period of water table stability when the climate was warmer and sea levels were higher reducing erosion throughout the Mississippi drainage.^[6] At the time, the Cumberland River flowed across the Highland Rim before the formation of the Nashville Basin. Global cooling 3.2-3.1 Ma triggered a 75–100-metre (246–328 ft) sea-level drop which increased erosion (incision) up the Mississippi River and led to the Cumberland River cutting into the Highland Rim and its headwaters, the Collins River, cutting into the Cumberland Plateau. The lower water table would have drained the water filling the caverns. Further erosion isolated Bone Cave Mountain from the Cumberland Plateau.

Notes

^ Miller, Larry L. (2001). Tennessee Place-names. Indiana University Press. p. 26. ISBN 0-253-21478-5.
^ "National Natural Landmarks - National Natural Landmarks (U.S. National Park Service)". www.nps.gov. Retrieved March 25, 2019. Year designated: 1973
^ "Big Bone Cave Class II N atural-Scientific State Natural Area". Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation.
^ Gulden, Bob (November 28, 2016). "USA LONGEST CAVES". NSS Geo2 Long & Deep Caves. Retrieved May 29, 2017.
^ Anthony, Darlene M.; Granger, Darryl E. (August 2004). "A Late Tertiary origin for multilevel caves along the western escarpment of the Cumberland Plateau, Tennessee and Kentucky, established by cosmogenic ²⁶
Al
and ¹⁰
Be
" (PDF). Journal of Cave and Karst Studies. 66 (2): 46–55. ISSN 1090-6924. Retrieved May 29, 2017.
^ Shackleton, N.J.; Backman, J.; Zimmerman, H.; Kent, D.V.; Hall, M.A.; Roberts, David G.; Schnitker, D.; Baldauf, J.G.; Desprairies, A.; Homrighausen, R.; Huddlestun, P.; Keene, J.B.; Kaltenback, A.J.; Krumsiek, K.A.O.; Morton, A.C.; Murray, J.W.; Westberg-Smith, J. (February 16, 1984). "Oxygen isotope calibration of the onset of ice-rafting and history of glaciation in the North Atlantic region". Nature. 307 (5952): 620–623. Bibcode:1984Natur.307..620S. doi:10.1038/307620a0. S2CID 4344673.

External links

Rock Island State Park
Natural Area Map
National Natural Landmarks
NSS Geo2 Long & Deep Caves

Protected areas of Tennessee

Federal

National parks	Great Smoky Mountains National Park
National historical parks and sites	Andrew Johnson National Historic Site Cumberland Gap National Historical Park Manhattan Project National Historical Park
National Military Parks	Chickamauga and Chattanooga National Military Park Fort Donelson National Battlefield Shiloh National Military Park Stones River National Battlefield
National recreation areas	Land Between the Lakes National Recreation Area
National Trails System	Appalachian National Scenic Trail Natchez Trace National Scenic Trail Overmountain Victory National Historic Trail Trail of Tears National Historic Trail
National forests	Cherokee National Forest
National Wild and Scenic Rivers	Obed River
National Wildlife Refuges	Chickasaw Cross Creeks Hatchie Lake Isom Lower Hatchie Reelfoot Tennessee
Wilderness areas	Bald River Gorge Big Frog Big Laurel Branch Citico Creek Cohutta Gee Creek Joyce Kilmer-Slickrock Little Frog Mountain Pond Mountain Sampson Mountain Unaka Mountain
Other protected areas	Big South Fork National River and Recreation Area Foothills Parkway Gatlinburg Bypass Natchez Trace Parkway

State

East Tennessee state parks	Big Ridge Booker T. Washington Cove Lake Cumberland Mountain David Crockett Birthplace Fall Creek Falls Fort Loudoun Frozen Head Harrison Bay Hiwassee/Ocoee Indian Mountain Justin P. Wilson Cumberland Trail Lamar Alexander Rocky Fork Norris Dam Panther Creek Red Clay Roan Mountain Seven Islands Sycamore Shoals Warriors' Path
Middle Tennessee state parks	Bicentennial Capitol Mall Bledsoe Creek Burgess Falls Cedars Of Lebanon Cordell Hull Birthplace Cummins Falls David Crockett Dunbar Cave Edgar Evins Fall Creek Falls Harpeth River Henry Horton Johnsonville Long Hunter Montgomery Bell Mousetail Landing Old Stone Fort Pickett Port Royal Radnor Lake Rock Island Sgt. Alvin C. York South Cumberland Standing Stone Tims Ford
West Tennessee state parks	Big Cypress Tree Big Hill Pond Chickasaw Fort Pillow Meeman-Shelby Forest Natchez Trace Nathan Bedford Forrest Paris Landing Pickwick Landing Pinson Mounds Reelfoot Lake T. O. Fuller
State forests	Bledsoe Cedars of Lebanon Chickasaw Chuck Swan Franklin John Tully Lewis Lone Mountain Martha Sundquist Natchez Trace Pickett Prentice Cooper Scott Standing Stone Stewart
State natural areas	Auntney Hollow Barnett's Woods Bays Mountain Beaman Park Big Bone Cave Campbell Bend Barrens Carroll Cabin Barrens Glade Mr. and Mrs. Harry Lee Carter Chimneys Colditz Cove Couchville Cedar Glade Crowder Cemetery Barrens Devils Backbone Dry Branch Duck River Complex Elsie Quarterman Cedar Glade Falling Water Falls Fate Sanders Barrens Flat Rock Cedar Glade & Barrens Gattinger’s Cedar Glade & Barrens Ghost River Grundy Forest Hampton Creek Cove Hawkins Cove Hicks Gap Hill Forest Honey Creek House Mountain Hubbard’s Cave John & Hester Lane Cedar Glades John Noel at Bon Aqua Langford Branch Laurel-Snow Lost Creek Lucius Burch Jr. Forest Manus Road Cedar Glade May Prairie North Chickamauga Creek Gorge Old Forest Overbridge Ozone Falls Piney Falls Pogue Creek Powell River Preserve Radnor Lake Riverwoods Roundtop Mountain Rugby Savage Gulf Sequatchie Cave Short Mountain Short Springs Sneed Road Cedar Glade Stillhouse Hollow Falls Stinging Fork Falls Stones River Cedar Glade & Barrens Sunk Lake Sunnybell Cedar Glade Taylor Hollow Twin Arches Vesta Cedar Glade Vine Cedar Glade Virgin Falls Walker Branch Walls of Jericho Walterhill Floodplain Washmorgan Hollow Watauga River Bluffs William B. Clark William R. Davenport Refuge Wilson School Road Window Cliffs
Other	Buffalo Ridge Refuge Catoosa Wildlife Management Area

v t e Pre-Columbian North America
Periods Lithic Archaic Formative Classic Post-Classic
Archaeological cultures	Adena Alachua Ancient Beringian Ancestral Pueblo (Anasazi) Avonlea Baytown Belle Glade Buttermilk Creek complex Caborn-Welborn Cades Pond Calf Creek Caloosahatchee Clovis Coles Creek Comondú Deptford Folsom Fort Ancient Fort Walton Fremont Glacial Kame Glades Hohokam Hopewell List of Hopewell sites La Jolla Las Palmas Maritime Archaic Mississippian List of Mississippian sites Mogollon Monongahela Old Cordilleran Oneota Paleo-Arctic Paleo-Indians Patayan Plano Plaquemine Poverty Point Red Ocher Safety Harbor Santa Rosa-Swift Creek St. Johns Steed-Kisker Suwannee Valley Tchefuncte Troyville Weeden Island
Archaeological sites	Angel Mounds Anzick site Bandelier National Monument Bastian Benson Blue Spring Shelter Bluefish Caves The Bluff Point Stoneworks Brewster Cahokia Candelaria Cave Casa Grande Chaco Canyon Coso Rock Art District Crystal River Cuarenta Casas Cueva de la Olla Cutler Eaker El Fin del Mundo El Vallecito Effigy Mounds Etowah Indian Mounds Eva Folsom Fort Ancient Fort Center Fort Juelson Four Mounds Gila Cliff Dwellings Glenwood Grimes Point Helen Blazes Holly Bluff Hopewell Culture National Historical Park Horr's Island Huápoca Key Marco Kimball Village Kincaid Mounds Kolomoki Mounds Lake Jackson Mounds Lehner Mammoth-Kill Site L'Anse aux Meadows Lynch Quarry Site Marksville Marmes Rockshelter Meadowcroft Rockshelter Mesa Verde Moaning Cavern Moorehead Circle Morrison Mounds Moundville Mummy Cave Nodena site Ocmulgee Mounds Old Stone Fort Orwell site Paquime Painted Bluff Parkin Park Pinson Mounds Plum Bayou Mounds Portsmouth Earthworks Poverty Point Pueblo Bonito Recapture Canyon River Styx Roberts Island Rock Eagle Rock Hawk Rosenstock Village Russell Cave Salmon Ruins Serpent Mound Sierra de San Francisco Shell ring sites Spiro Mounds Stallings Island SunWatch Taos Pueblo Town Creek Indian Mound Turkey River Mounds Upward Sun River Velda Mound West Oak Forest Earthlodge Wickiup Hill Windover Winterville Wupatki
Human remains	Anzick-1 Arlington Springs Man Buhl Woman Kennewick Man La Brea Woman Leanderthal Lady Melbourne Man Minnesota Woman Peñon woman Spirit Cave mummy Vero man
Miscellaneous	Aridoamerica Ballgame Black drink Ceremonial pipe Chanunpa Chunkey Clovis point Container Revolution Eastern Agricultural Complex Eden point Effigy mound Falcon dancer Folsom point Green Corn Ceremony Horned Serpent Kiva Medicine wheel Metallurgy Mi'kmaq hieroglyphic writing Mound Builders N.A.G.P.R.A. Norse colonization of North America Oasisamerica Piasa Projectile point Southeastern Ceremonial Complex Stickball Three Sisters agriculture Thunderbird Transoceanic contact Underwater panther Water glyphs
Related Genetic history Pre-Columbian era