National Register of Historic Places

Antelope Cave

Colorado City, Mohave County, Arizona
Listed
October 9, 1975
Type
Site
Period
Listed
Ref No.
75000351

About this property

Antelope Cave is a limestone cave near Colorado City, Arizona on the Uinkaret Plateau. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1975 as an archeological site. It is roughly 130 feet wide and 350 long once entered. It was site of a prehistoric activity. It is not related to Antelope Canyon in Coconino County, Arizona. Human use of Antelope cave has been dated to 4000 years using radiocarbon dating. The site is thought to have been inhabited sporadically from that time until roughly 1000 BCE. At least 4460 items from the site where excavated by the University of California in 1959 when the site came under threat from archaeological looters. Counting these and other artifacts gathered at other times, over 10000 artifacts were removed from the site. These have been used in scholarship on topics ranging from the footwear of the inhabitants to diabetes. The cave was known to relic hunters by the 1920s, but was not studied by the scientific community until 1954. In that year, a research expedition was mounted by Robert C. Euler. In 1959, danger to the site by looters increased, and using money provided from a grant by the University of California, a major expedition was undertaken to salvage as much information as possible. 520 cubic feet of material were processed. The cave is now gated and closed to the public. Antelope Cave is located in Mohave County, Arizona southwest of Colorado City and Hildale, Utah and southeast of Hurricane, Utah. It is close to a large power transmission line.

Location

Colorado City, Mohave County, Arizona

Categories

PREHISTORIC
Sources

Property data from the National Register of Historic Places, National Park Service (public domain).

Description adapted from Wikipedia under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

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Overview
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The Land
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Geology
The bedrock beneath the site, its age and rock type, reaching back millions of years.
LiDAR Terrain
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Conflict & War
The battles, raids and skirmishes fought near here, across every era of American conflict.
The Civil War
The Civil War on this ground, 1861 to 1865: who held it, and the battles, camps and regiments nearby.
The Soldiers
The men who marched from here in the Civil War, named and traced where the record allows.
Native Heritage
The Native nations who held this land, mapped across time from before European contact to today.
Settlement
Who claimed and held this ground, from Indigenous homelands through the colonial powers to the United States.
The Community
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Rivers & Rail
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Notable People
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Historical Maps
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Finds & Access
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Literature
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Spotlight
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Points of Interest
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Timeline
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Questions about this property

When was Antelope Cave listed on the National Register?

Antelope Cave was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on October 9, 1975.

What type of historic resource is Antelope Cave?

Antelope Cave is classified as a site in the National Register of Historic Places.

What is the period of significance for Antelope Cave?

The period of significance for Antelope Cave is recorded as the listed era.

Can I research the history near Antelope Cave?

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