Rare treasures recovered from within a volcanic cave in Northwest Alaska

Ben Jones suspected he had found something special when he squeezed into a volcanic cave and saw pale wooden poles, some with ends shaped like a willow leaf. When he crawled in farther, he found a cache of items — several paddles and a spear with a stone tip that was still attached. He suspected that the last hands to touch those paddles belonged to people who were no longer alive. Jones, a permafrost and northern-phenomena researcher, then backed out of the hole, which had been formed by cooling lava...