[1] It is in the Highland Rim in the limestone bluffs that overlook Coffee Slough, a tributary of the Tennessee River.
The cave was discovered in 1984 by Dr. Richard Cobb and initially excavated in 1989 under Dr. Boyce Driskell from the University of Alabama.
due to the water tables dropping and flushing river sediment that once filled and buried the cave between 17,000 and 15,000 B.P.
This unit exposed a complex layering that included 20 human and dog burials associated with a phase in the Middle Archaic.
The Eva/Morrow Mountain occupations represent the most intensive periods of human activity at Dust Cave.
2009 Kandace D. Hollenbach “Foraging in the Tennessee River Valley, 12,500 to 8,000 Years Ago” Tuscaloosa: University of Alabama.
2007 Renee Beauchamp Walker “Foragers of the Terminal Pleistocene in North America” Lincoln: University of Nebraska.
Paper presented at the 58th Annual Meeting of the Southeastern Archaeological Conference, Chattanooga, TN.
2001 S. C. Sherwood and P. Goldberg "Recognition and Organization of Prepared Surfaces at Dust Cave: A Microstratigraphic Approach" Paper presented at the 66th Annual Meeting for the Society of American Archaeology, New Orleans, LA.