Question

15 in several caves in alabama and tennessee, mid - 19th - century inscriptions were written on cave walls in cherokee syllabary. this writing system was invented by the cherokee scholar sequoyah between 1800 and 1824 and was quickly adopted as the tribes primary means of written expression. cherokee archaeologists, historians, and language experts have joined forces with non - native archaeologists like me to document and translate these cave writings. as it turns out, they refer to various important religious ceremonies and spiritual concepts that emphasize the sacred nature of caves, their isolation, and their connection to powerful spirits. these texts reflect similar religious ideas to those represented by graphic images in earlier, precontact time periods. based on all the rediscoveries researchers have made since mud glyph cave was first explored more than four decades ago, cave art in the southeast was created over a long period of time. these artists worked in ancient times when ancestral native americans lived by foraging in the rich natural landscapes of the southeast all the way through to the historic period just before the forced removal of indigenous people east of the mississippi river in the 1830s. as surveys continue, researchers uncover more dark cave sites every year - in fact, four new caves were found in the first half of 2021. with each new discovery, the tradition is beginning to approach the abundance and range of the paleolithic art of europe, where 350 sites are currently known. that archaeologists were incognizant of the dark - zone cave art of the american southeast even 40 years ago demonstrates the kinds of new discoveries that can be made even in regions that have been explored for centuries. question 23 what is the authors main purpose in the article? a. to discuss how dark - zone cave art compares to other types of cave art b. to explore how dark - zone cave art in europe and the american southeast compare c. to describe the discovery of dark - zone cave art and what archaeologists can learn from it d. to provide information about the archaeologists that discovered the first dark - zone cave art site

Explanation:

The article focuses on the discovery of dark - zone cave art in the American Southeast, including Cherokee inscriptions in caves and what archaeologists can learn from these discoveries, such as religious concepts and the long - standing tradition of cave art creation. It also mentions new cave sites being found and the significance of these discoveries.

Answer:

C. to describe the discovery of dark - zone cave art and what archaeologists can learn from it