A Difficult Climb Archeologists rediscovered the caves in the mid-1990s. When Athans first saw them, he was stumped. Many of the caves seemed too hard to reach. Athans is an expert climber. He wondered how he could reach the caves and what he would find there. As he climbed, the rock broke


apart under his fingers. Each time he reached up, a rain of dirt and rocks clattered off the top of his helmet. Finally, Athans reached a cave


opening. It was a burial chamber. One of the first things he saw was pieces of a coffin. And that’s not all he found.


What’s Been Found During this expedition, the team explored many caves and uncovered many treasures. Tey found the skeletons of 27 people. All were wearing beads and jewelry. Tey discovered many artifacts.


Tree iron daggers with heavy blades were found. In one cave, there was a small bronze mirror. In another cave, they saw a copper cooking pot and a ladle. Nearly all the items in the caves had been imported from elsewhere.


14 NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC EXPLORER


A Look Ahead Te artifacts helped archeologists learn about this place and its people. Tey now theorize that the caves were used for different purposes at different times. Te caves were burial chambers, homes, lookouts, and even storage units. Scientists have many more caves


to explore. More artifacts may be waiting to be discovered. Who knows what treasures will be uncovered in the future.


This hand-written page was found in one of the caves.


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