Dialogue: Walking a Dark Pathway with Jan Simek

By Chrissy Keuper

Published April 6, 2022 at 5:00 AM EDT

1st Unnamed Cave was discovered in East Tennessee in 1994. The location is kept secret because what is there is sacred and vulnerable: Glyphs that are carved into the mud of the cave’s walls and ceiling. WUOT's Chrissy Keuper will speak with University of Tennessee Anthropology professor and archaeologist Dr. Jan Simek of the University of Tennessee Department of Anthropology about his book, A Dark Pathway: Precontact Native American Mud Glyphs from 1st Unnamed Cave, Tennessee, published by University of Tennessee Press.

Figure 34. Area 2 looking out towards cave entrance showing constriction that eliminates exterior light from the cave interior beginning at this point. Glyph 9 on ceiling.

Figure 35. Paul Aughey standing below mud glyphs in Area 5 (right wall) that were first ones seen in 1st Unnamed Cave.

Alan Cressler

Figure 97. Glyph 65

Chrissy Keuper

Chrissy served as WUOT's News Director and host of monthly public affairs talk show Dialogue from late 2021 to early 2023. Her first job with the station was as weekend student announcer while earning her bachelor's in Anthropology from the University of Tennessee. She had previously been the station's local host for NPR's Morning Edition and All Things Considered news programs; occasionally filled in as host for WUOT's Morning and Afternoon Concerts; and won multiple awards for her interviews, feature stories, and Dialogue.

See stories by Chrissy Keuper