On Your Knees Cave

On Your Knees Cave in Alaska consists of 2 tunnels so small that crawling the only way to advance or retreat. A wealth of bones have been found here buried in layers of sediment, including the bones of arctic and red fox, caribou, ringed seals, marmots, lemmings, voles and numerous birds and fish. Alaska Paleontologists have collected over 25,000 bone fragments. Among the samples are the bones of bears that lived 40,000 years ago. Some of the samples from On Your Knees Cave are so old they exceed the limits of radiocarbon dating!

The discoveries in On Your Knees Cave enliven the debate on how the first people populated the Americas after crossing the Bering Land Bridge. Most anthropologists have argued for an inland, ice-free corridor, but now more people are looking at the coast of Alaska as a possible route.