Gadao's Cave, also known as Liyang Gadao, is a rock art site on the United States island of
Guam
Guam (; ch, Guåhan ) is an organized, unincorporated territory of the United States in the Micronesia subregion of the western Pacific Ocean. It is the westernmost point and territory of the United States (reckoned from the geographic cent ...
. Located near the village of
Inarajan, the cave is the site of a panel of approximately 50
Chamorro Chamorro may refer to:
* Chamorro people, the indigenous people of the Mariana Islands in the Western Pacific
* Chamorro language, an Austronesian language indigenous to The Marianas
* Chamorro Time Zone, the time zone of Guam and the Northern Mar ...
pictographs, painted with a mixture of coral lime and tree sap. The most unusual images are of two human stick figures that appear to be carrying things. It is not known who painted them or when, and what their significance is. The legendary chief of Inarajan
Gadao
Gadao is a legendary chief of the village of Inarajan in southern Guam. In the Chamorro language of ancient Guam, he would have had the title maga'lahi as a high-ranking male. In addition to being featured in legend, he is the namesake of Inaraja ...
is believed to be the creator of the cave's images.
The cave was listed on the
National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic ...
in 1974.
Space
The entrance to the cave is about 10-12 ft wide and about 10 ft high. The following chamber is about 8 ft deep, 5 ft wide, and 7 ft high and its highest point. A small slit between the walls at the chamber's ends opens into a small cavity about 3 ft deep, 2 ft wide, and 7 ft high.
The outer chamber has the majority of images which sizes range from about 3 in to 1 ft.
Documentation
In 1901, Georg Fritz, the administrator of the German colonial district of the Mariana Islands, documented some of the pictograms. In 1904, he published them in ''Die Chamorro''. It was the first publication on rock art in Micronesia.
See also
*
National Register of Historic Places listings in Guam __NOTOC__
This is a list of the buildings, sites, districts, and objects listed on the National Register of Historic Places in Guam. There are currently 134 listed sites spread across 17 of the 19 villages of Guam. The villages of Agana Heig ...
References
Archaeological sites on the National Register of Historic Places in Guam
Rock art of Oceania
{{Oceania-archaeology-stub
Cave paintings