Mummies, Catacombs, and Mammoth Cave

Short Cave, near world famous Mammoth Cave, is the repository of at least six native American Indian mummy burials unearthed from 1805 to 1814.  Some of these petrified Indian mummies played a central role in the history of Mammoth Cave, Kentucky.  Thomas Ashe, a notorious Irish traveler, discovered part of a story connected with the earliest Short Cave burials and described the site in his 1809 book.  Having never been to Short Cave, he changed the name and the locale to a great Catacomb near the town of Lexington, Kentucky.

Part of the Mummies, Catacombs, and Mammoth Cave book covers the analysis of the great catacomb mystery and Thomas Ashe's adventure in the wilds of pioneer Kentucky.  A treasure trove of early Lexington scientists, collectors, historians, and museum owners are profiled in this book.  The second half of the book discusses the mummies from Big Bone Cave, Tennessee , and in and around Mammoth Cave are investigated in this epic monograph.  Purported discoveries of mummies in the far distant regions of Mammoth Cave made the cavern world famous.  Its fame grew on the shoulders of Fawn Hoof, the best known of all the mummies.  A significant chapter in the history of Mammoth Cave, Salts Cave, and Longs Cave is rewritten.  Illustrated with many vintage wood cuts, lithographs, and photographs.  The book is the result of over twenty years of research and is documented with over 440 end notes.

Written by Angelo George
Copyright 1994
153 pages, Paperback