Excerpt from:
"Rock Art Pieces from
Burrows Cave"
Written by Russell Burrows 1992.
Pages 94 - 95
It is not an easy task to roll a stone disc which is some four feet across and six inches or so thick uphill by one's self. So I realized that I would have to get the right equipment in there to do the job, or else get some help. I decided to bring in the equipment and make the attempt by myself. I am not going to go into great detail about "how I did it". If I did, this writing would very soon become volumes. Let me just say that I did it. After rolling that stone disc up the channel, I found that it had covered the entrance to yet another burial crypt. I was to learn very quickly, however, that this one is different that the other two I had been in.
The first thing I noticed was a rectangular stone "something" standing in the center of a crypt which is much larger than the other two. This one is at least twelve feet wide and about sixteen feet deep. And there is that rectangular "something" in the center. I also noticed that the walls of this crypt are lined with very finely carved or etched slabs of white marble. I was to learn later that these slabs are held in place by bronze clips which are driven between the last two in each row of slabs, thus holding them in place. Looking up at the ceiling. I found that it was covered with those marble slabs as well. I cannot say for certain that those ceiling slabs are held in place by bronze clips. I was too stunned by what I saw in a recess cut into the walls, where the wall panels ended and the ceiling began. Here were METAL STATUES, all standing in a row and all around the room.!
Those statues are all about the same except for their heads; some are animal, some are human. Their size is all the same, about twelve inches in height. Their weight indicates that they are solid. The left foot, each and every one, is forward, as is the left arm, the hand of which is holding a staff. There are far too many other items to be seen in that crypt to describe here, such as weapons of bronze and jars, many, many jars. I next turned my attention to the rectangular "something".
It was no surprise that it was a burial vault complete with stone lid. The vault is about eight feet in length and something like three and a half to four feet wide and stands from top to bottom about four feet high.
Next came the task of moving the lid so that I could find out what was in there. I knew that extreme care must be exercised here because a slab of stone that big would break. I began opening the vault by placing the end of a pry bar in the seam or crack and gently prying the lid upwards. As it was raised, I placed a small stone in the opening and then moved to the other side to do the same. I felt that I had to keep the pressure even so that no uneven stress would be placed at any point, lest the lid would break. After lifting the lid, I found that it has a recess cut along its outer edge to effect a good closure.
After raising that lid about three inches all the way around, I directed my light beam into the vault and saw gleam of yellowish metal, which looked like gold. By this time, I wasn't getting too excited about finding metal of any kind in there, so I went about the task of sliding the lid out of the way to allow for a good look at what was contained inside the vault. It was a yellow-colored casket, complete with a face, some kind of headdress and with crossed arms and hands holding an ankh.
I want to admit to a very bad mistake here, as if what I had done up to this point was not bad enough. I looked inside that casket! In my previous descriptions of this, I said that a mummy is reposing in that casket. That was a mistake. I don't really know that it is a mummy. It looks like a mummy but, in all honesty, I must say that I cannot state for certain that it is a mummy. (If that doesn't confuse you, nothing will).
I am going to end my description of the cave at this point. I think that enough has been said about it to make it very, very clear that it does not appear to be a burial place for Native Americans. I hope that some day we will know what it is, who these people are and where they came from.