A rock shelter is a shallow cave-like opening at the base of a bluff or cliff. Another term is rockhouse.

Rock shelter

Rock shelters form because a rock stratum such as sandstone that is resistant to erosion and weathering has formed a cliff or bluff, but a softer stratum, more subject to erosion and weathering, lies just below the resistant stratum, and thus undercuts the cliff.

This same phenomenon commonly occurs at waterfalls, and, indeed, many rock shelters are found under waterfalls.

Rock shelters are often important archeologically. Because rock shelters form natural shelters from the weather, prehistoric humans often used them as living-places, and left behind trash, tools, and other artifacts. In mountainous areas the shelters can also be important for mountaineers. In western Connecticut and eastern New York, many rock shelters are known by the colloquialism "leatherman caves"[1], as they were inhabited by the Leatherman over three decades in the late 1800s.

See also

• Mesa Verde
• Walnut Canyon

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