The Dolores Cave Collection

About the Collection

From around 600 BC to AD 1400, the cave was inhabited and a corn cob found within it, dating back to about AD 1500, suggests that even prior to European interaction with the region, certain groups were still cultivating corn in western Colorado following the Southwestern "Anasazi" bloom. Noteworthy artifacts excavated from the cave encompass a split-twig figurine from 600 BCE, a discovery considered to be much later and located significantly east than where such figurines are commonly unearthed. Furthermore, a corn cob from 1490 CE was also found, giving proof of farming activities in the region after the Pueblo III era (1150–1300 CE) of the Ancestral Puebloan culture, yet before any European involvement.