Brian Nettles – Page 5 – Burrows Cave

#12 – The Discovery of the Cave – 1982

Written by Russell Burrows: Now this valley lies on a northwest to southeast heading and is about five hundred or so yards in length with a width of about seventy-five feet to about three hundred feet. It has a depth at the cliff walls ranging from about twenty-five to forty feet. The walls of the […]

#11 – Real Adventure – 1982

(Fred Rydholm): Russell Burrows liked to explore places that had been untouched for a long time. He knew of an area where rumor held there had once been a number of old homesteads. It was common knowledge in that region. There was also a legend connected with the homesteads; it had to do with a […]

#10 – Russ Becomes a “Caver” -1976-Present

(Fred Rydholm) It was also during these later years at Olney that Russell Burrows became a serious caver. Southern Illinois has many known caves but there are still some to be found. The picture that most people have of caves is a stereotyped one of an open entrance in the side of a hill. This […]

#9b – Married Life 1964 – Present

Written by Russell Burrows I first met my wife Lila in Chicago in 1964. I had gone there, as have many from West Virginia, seeking the often-referred-to fortune! Of course, no fortune was waiting there for most, but the fortune I found was Lila. I courted for over a year and we were married in […]

#9a Russell Burrows Tells About His Early Life – 1930’s to Present

Written by Russell Burrows The earliest memories I have are of living on the side of a mountain just down the road from the Richwood Cemetery. Our family was mighty poor but we got by. I don’t know to this day how we did it. My father worked for the Cherry River Broom and Lumber […]

Trial Translations

To Him לו To Walk ללכת. We have the לכ Upside Down V seems to be used for Water- These are seafaring people. Make sense they are VII לתלה To Hang Left Side are the four sacred words. Bottom line is abbreviated for אל בא – God Comes to the Mariners. Agreement – סכמ Agreement […]

The National Identities of Burrows Cave

The Identity of these people appears apparent from some common symbols. Most Examples from the John White Collection 1. The Medicine Wheel 2. Medicine Wheel With Variations All three of these circle with cross renditions have different lettering with different meanings. 3. Four Sacred Symbols There are many artifact which have a common slogan. The […]

#8 Viewing the Artifacts – 1988

Written by Fred Rydholm I told Jon I was planning to go to Vincennes that fall, to see the artifacts from the cave, and if he was interested he could come with me. We could see for ourselves what there was to see. After being away from it all for so long and having so […]

#7 Virginia Hourigan’s Pictures – 1988

Written by Fred Rydholm The woman from New York was a very sincere and extremely interested member of ISAC. She was the one person that I felt was doing everything in her power to get the story of the cave to the proper people, but in the course of time I learned that she too […]

#6 The Story of Jack Ward – 1975-88

Written by Fred Rydholm Back in 1975 Jack had been asked to serve on a committee of the Old Northwest Bicentennial Corporation when the city of Vincennes was preparing to celebrate the Bicentennial of the United States. The Corporation had acquired some property, and a small dwelling on it was converted into a museum. They […]

#5 Prehistoric Indian Cultures 500BC – Present

Written by Fred Rydholm The area of southern Illinois and Indiana is richly endowed with evidence of several different early cultures which archaeologists know all too little about. The earliest was the Adena culture, which is believed to have developed around 500 BC and to have died out by 200 AD. It was centered just […]

#4 Meeting the Burrows Cave People – 1988

Written by Fred Rydholm It was during the summer of 1988 that I found myself seated in about the third row from the front in a huge room in the old “Iron Works” building in Columbus, Georgia. The building went back to the time of the Civil War. They had made cannon and ironclad ships […]

#3 How I Became Involved – 1940-88

Written by Fred Rydholm I am a retired teacher, who for many years has been digging out little-known facts of local history about my native haunts, in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. In tracing its history back into prehistoric times I discovered a whole era of world-wide copper trading which is either unknown to or […]

#2 By Way of Introduction – 1987-91

Written by Fred Rydholm Each year archaeological finds are made all over the world, and occasionally sensational discoveries occur, ones that excite archaeologists and the public both. In such a case, it takes a few years for the site’s significance to be assessed and for full details to reach the public press and the museum […]

#1 The Discovery – 1982

Written by Fred Rydholm Russell Burrows stood up from his seat on a rock ledge. The date was April 2nd of 1982 and the place was a remote valley in southern Illinois. Burrows was a “caver,” a solitary cave-explorer, and he had decided that there was nothing to find in this valley. Within a few […]

This Leviathan Splashed

This is one of my first fun findings. Yet while I call it a finding, there is enough reaching in here that I expect ridicule. So I will lay out what I see and you decide if it sounds correct. In the image, it looks like a whale jumping out of the water and is […]

A Cartouche of Ramses

The following artifacts has multiple cartouches all spelling in Egyptian the name Ramses. So far, I only have this artistic depiction of the artifact. Eventually, I expect to find the artifact. Often times when you study the Cartouches from ancient Egypt, they are very easy to read. Often they are not. And making things more […]

Human Sacrifice on Burrows Artifact

In scanning through the John White Collection of the Burrow’s Cave Artifacts, I find only this one artifact that appears to be depicting human sacrifice. Unfortunately the top of the image is missing. The bottom four symbols are the four symbols at the bottom commonly used seemingly to reference their nation or people.

Leg Bit Off by a Pig

The Hebrew word for Leg is רגל. The first two letters are גל. Good Fit. You’ll be fine is תזלתד in Hebrew. Bottom line has Swing is תנד in Hebrew. Tree is עֵץ in Hebrew. Well is נו in Hebrew Translation: Leg, you’ll be fine. Swinging in the tree is well.

Transliterating Burrows Cave Artifacts

The intent of transliterating is to map the Burrows Cave alphabet to the Hebrew alphabet, and then attempt translation. So far some translations are working with this approach. Much of the artifacts is straight out of the ancient Phoenician and Libyan alphabets. But they are not exact. It is apparent from my initial observations that […]