different camp sites seasonally. Anthropologist Jack Schock of Western Kentucky University believes that these prehistoric Kentucky tribes camped at Lost River Cave in the winter, enjoying shelter from the cave and clean water from the blue hole. Starting around 8,000 B.C., during the Archaic period in North America, the inhabitants began exploiting the environment in a more organized fashion. One of the only Dalton points found in situ in southeastern Kentucky was discovered at Lost River by Dr. Schock. This spear point, dated at around 8,000 years old, is a rare find, making Lost River an important archaeological site for studying the Archaic period. These native groups occupied the Cave region until around 1,000 B.C. Mill The proximity of the cave to Bowling Green and the Louisville-Nashville Turnpike allowed it to contribute to the 19th century commercial and agricultural development of Warren County. There are many conflicting reports on the construction of the first water mill at Lost River Cave. Some undocumented 20th century reports state that it was built in 1792 (the year Bowling Green was founded) as a corn gristmill and saw mill. Other accounts place the construction of the "first flour mill in Warren County" much later. Throughout the 19th century, the site hosted several mills with different operators and production goals. The first of these structures sat inside the cave; however, later millers built their operations on top of the arched entrance to the cavern. According to W. F. Smith, who bought the cave in 1917, Shank's Mill was the only underground water mill in the U.S. By 1825, the mill was under the ownership of James Skiles. In 1847, a Mr. Shanks owned the mill. In addition to producing grist, he installed a wool carding machine. This mill was built directly in the stream under the rock arch of the cave entrance. In the mid-1870s, John L. Row built a stone dam in the stream near the cave entrance, drilled through 42 feet of bedrock in the arched ceiling of the cave entrance, and constructed a three-story high mill above the cave. A shaft ran to an undershot wheel in the dam raceway. He operated his mill as a distillery and flour mill until 1889 when it was purchased by James Skaggs. The last mill at Lost River, owned by Robert Crump, was destroyed by fire in 1915. A history of industry which lasted over