evidence was found to suggest that Neanderthals may have even been using the grasses to create enough smoke to repel mosquitoes. The presence of fish bones in the cave suggested that Neanderthals were smoking fish for later use. Simek’s research discoveries provide contrasting evidence against the idea that Neanderthals were incapable of planning ahead, or imagining the future. He joined the faculty of the University of Tennessee anthropology department in 1984 and advanced in rank to become a distinguished professor of anthropology. In addition to his faculty duties, he served the university as head of the anthropology department, interim director of the School of Art, and interim dean of the College of Architecture and Design. He was interim chancellor of the university's Knoxville campus for one year (from January 2008 to January 2009), after having been chief of staff to the chancellor from 2005 to 2008. He became acting president of the university system on March 1, 2009, after John D. Petersen announced his resignation, and he became interim president on July 1, 2009, when Petersen's resignation became official. He has conducted archaeological research in France, Italy, Croatia, California, and Tennessee, and has spent time at the University of Washington, the University of Bordeaux, and the Autonomous University of Barcelona as a visiting faculty member. Research Inspired by one of his colleagues, Charles Faulkner, Simek developed a passion for ancient cave art in Tennessee. Although petroglyphs had been noticed on Tennessee cave walls for years, Faulkner was the first to conduct an archaeological study of the artwork in 1979. Faulkner’s study inspired Simek to pursue his own research of early southeastern prehistoric cave art. Since 1979, many other caves have been discovered. Sites such as- Third Unnamed Cave, provide contextual information on dark zone cave art. The findings in these caves force scholars to rethink the analytic and interpretive approaches used in considering Southeastern cave art. The archaeological contents of the cave were not fully appreciated until Simek and a team of archaeologists from the University of Tennessee spent time researching and documenting detailed findings of the cave. more than 15,000 artifacts were mapped and recovered from Third Unnamed Cave. This same attention to detail has become a recurring practice in the caves Simek and his colleagues continue to visit. While many of the caves yielding art have been dated back to the Mississippian period, some images are thought to