its visibility. The Kansas Petroglyph Survey had classified the state of preservation of the site as being in “poor” condition. Access The cave belongs to a private owner and it is a restricted site; this is also in part to protect the heritage of the place from vandalism, as it is rampant amongst archeological remains in other sites of the region. Expeditions into the area require prior authorization and in recent years the most notable excursions to Big Gyp have been performed by prominent local biologist Stan Roth who has been studying bats and other wildlife in the caves of central and southern Kansas. In these he takes his students and other academic staff. From these excursions there are reports of soapstone being found in Big Gyp although this needs further confirmation. The accessibility to the area is difficult since it must be reached by dirt road and to get in one must further traverse the wooded entrance slippery rocks and knee high mud in some instances. Dating A fraction of a rock was used to date all the sites in the Kansas Petroglyph Survey including Big Gyp since there are equestrian glyphs in the site of the rock. This has led some scholars such as Howard (1964) and Wedel (1969) to deduce a date for the sites from 1541 to 1870 AD; they concluded that they must be at least protohistoric at its earliest (1541 AD), with the introduction of horses to the area. At the latest moreover, until the time of complete encroachment of European-American settlement in the area by the 1870’s. However, this is a broad date and not too reliable given that the date for Big Gyp was speculated according to the other sites’ petroglyphic art. To this day the specific site of Big Gyp has not had a reliable date assigned to it as it has not been carbon dated and the nature of the pictographs make it harder to tell by drawing conclusions from the designs as had been done for the equestrian glyphs in the nearby sites, due to poor conditions making the pictographs not easily recognizable. Geology The so-called Red Hills where the cave lies are topped by a layer of gypsum that gives the cave its name. The Big Gyp cave is one of the biggest caves in Kansas and is marked by a uniquely large entrance; within lies a stream