St. Louis, MO – A Missouri cave that contains hundreds of pieces of art from more than 1,000 years ago has been sold at auction for $2.2 million. Leaders of the Osage Nation were disappointed as they hope to “protect and preserve our most sacred site.”
“Picture Cave,” along with the 43 hilly acres that surround it was sold to a bidder on Tuesday. The land is near the town of Warrenton, about 60 miles west of St. Louis. Bryan Laughlin, director of Selkirk Auctioneers & Appraisers, the St. Louis-based firm handling the auction, said the winning bidder declined to be named.
Picture Cave was used by civilizations more than a thousand years ago for sacred rituals, rites of passage, vision quests, and burials, archeologists have discovered. It also has more than 290 prehistoric glyphs, or hieroglyphic symbols used to represent sounds or meanings, “making it the largest collection of indigenous people’s polychrome paintings in Missouri."
Some scholars described the cave as "the most important rock art site in North America," as the land was valued between $1 million - $3 million.
The Osage Nation, in a statement, called the sale “truly heartbreaking.”
“Our ancestors lived in this area for 1300 years,” the statement read. “This was our land. We have hundreds of thousands of our ancestors buried throughout Missouri and Illinois, including Picture Cave.”
Carol Diaz-Granados spent 20 years researching the cave and wrote a book about it her husband, James Duncan. She said the intricate details set the Missouri cave apart from other sites with ancient drawings.
“You get stick figures in other rock art sites, or maybe one little feather on the top of the head, or a figure holding a weapon,” she said. “But in Picture Cave you get actual clothing details, headdress details, feathers, weapons. It’s truly amazing.”
Missouri laws should prevent the cave and surrounding are from being harmed. Missouri Revised Statute 194.410 states that any person or entity that “knowingly disturbs, destroys, vandalizes, or damages a marked or unmarked human burial site commits a class D felony.” The statute also makes it a felony to profit from cultural items obtained from the site.
Laughlin also says all potential bidders were vetted and no one is "going to turn it into an amusement park."
It's also home to a rare indigenous colony of Indiana bats, which are listed as endangered species by the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service.