Gadao's Cave | |
 Pictograph from Gadao's Cave thought to depict the legendary Chiefs Gadao and Malagueña. | |
| Location | Address restricted[2] |
|---|---|
| Nearest city | Inarajan, Guam |
| Area | 0.1 acres (0.040 ha) |
| NRHP reference No. | 74002309[1] |
| Added to NRHP | November 19, 1974 |
Gadao's Cave, also known asLiyang Gadao, is arock art site on the United States island ofGuam, located near the village ofInarajan. The cave was listed on theNational Register of Historic Places in 1974.[1]
The cave is the site of a panel of approximately 50Chamorro[3]pictographs, painted with a mixture of corallime 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, nor what their significance is.[4] The legendary chief of InarajanGadao is said to be the creator of the cave's images.[5]
The entrance to the cave is about 10–12 feet (3.0–3.7 m) wide and about 10 feet (3 m) high. The following chamber is about 8 feet (2.4 m) deep, 5 feet (1.5 m) wide, and 7 feet (2.1 m) high and its highest point. A small slit between the walls at the chamber's ends opens into a small cavity about 3 feet (1 m) deep, 2 feet (60 cm) wide, and 7 feet (2.1 m) high.
The outer chamber has the majority of images, whose sizes range from about 3 inches (7.6 cm) to 1 foot (30 cm).[5]
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 inDie Chamorro. It was the first publication on rock art inMicronesia.[6]
