Burrows Cave

Burrows Cave is the name given to an alleged cave site in a disputed location in Southern Illinois allegedly discovered by Russell E. Burrows. Burrows says it contained a number of artifacts. Through the many inconsistencies that evolve around Russell E. Burrows' story of discovery and its findings, the cave and its contents are considered a hoax by mainstream archaeologists and some fringe archaeologists.

Burrows says he discovered the cave while hiking along the hillside miles away from the Ohio River, where he later claims that he was searching for buckles from the Civil War-era and pioneer horseshoes with his metal detector. Burrows says that he came across a hole into which he fell that led him into the mysterious cave full of priceless ancient artifacts. During the time of the discovery, it was thought that the alleged cave must have been located in Richland County somewhere near the town Olney, Illinois where Burrows resided at the time. The cave was said to have contained numerous archaeological artifacts, including carvings, coins, and other items. Burrows claimed that he did not want to give away the location of the cave because he believed that the cave would be robbed of its ancient treasures. Many of the purported artifacts are said to have inscriptions in various ancient languages such as Numidian and lybique, etc., but the inscriptions are generally meaningless. Burrows claims that the cave is a tomb holding the artifacts and remains of 13 crypts. To date, nobody outside Burrows's immediate circle has claimed to have been inside the cave, and many of the claimed artifacts have been revealed as forgeries. The cave and its artifacts are widely considered to be a hoax or fraud, even among proponents of other pseudoarchaeological theories such as Barry Fell. The idea has gained some traction within proponents of Mormon archaeology and hyperdiffusionism theorists such as Frank Collin (writing as Frank Joseph).

Burrows and the cave were one of the subjects of the second season "Grand Canyon Treasure" episode of America Unearthed and the show Holy Grail in America, both produced by the History Channel.

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