Bushnell Ceremonial Cave, 23SG89
Two bird petroglyphs with a cupule in between are situated just inside the mouth of cave. Photographs by Mike Chervinko, 2024.
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Nested circles petroglyph. Photographs by Mike Chervinko, 2024.
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Cross-in-circle petroglyph. The iconography of the Bushnell Ceremonial Cave corresponds to the Mississippian Period (AD 900 - 1450) rock art at several sites in Missouri and Illinois. Photograph by Mike Chervinko, 2024.
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Bushnell Ceremonial Cave is a petroglyph site inside of the mouth of a small cave in Ste. Genevieve County, Missouri. The site is situated on private property and is not open to the public. A spring issues from the mouth of the cave. The cave is within a half days walk of the large Mississippian center called the Commonfield Mound site. Photograph by Mike Chervinko, 2024.
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Bird petroglyphs. Photographs by Mike Chervinko, 2024.
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Over 150 cupules and pit-and-groove petroglyphs are situated on a bedrock apron at the entrance of the cave. Photograph by Mike Chervinko, 2024.
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Map published by Bushnell (1914:Figure 6) of the petroglyphs visible at the beginning of the 20th century. The original ASM (Archaeological Suvey of Missouri) site report was submitted by Frank Magre; the form is undated and probably belongs to the 1950s. An update form was submitted in 1987 by Greg Fox and Teresita Majewski; they could only relocate 3 petroglyphs. Site update forms were submitted by Fuller in 2014 and 2024. More photographs and text can be found at http://users.stlcc.edu/mfuller/BushnellCave.html/
Michael Fuller