A team of scholars and archaeologists have decoded Cherokee inscriptions written hundreds of years ago in a cave in Alabama.

The inscriptions inside Manitou Cave near Fort Payne are the first evidence of the tribe's syllabary, which uses symbols to create words.

Experts say one inscription describes a game similar to lacrosse.

They say it details an 1828 match and indicates players entered the cave before the games and during intermission for specific ceremonies.

Jan Simek, co-author of a study on the discovery, published in international archaeological journal Antiquity, said: "It is far more than a simple game.


"It is a ceremonial event that often continues over days, focusing on competition between two communities who epitomise the spirit and power of the people and their ancestors."

Another inscription that was "written backwards, as if addressing readers inside the rock itself" was not translated.

The tribe's syllabary was created in the 1800s by Cherokee scholar Sequoyah, who eventually developed the tribe's official written language.

Ancestors of the Cherokee left figurative paintings inside caves for centuries but scholars did not know they also left written records.

Mr Simek said: "These are the first Cherokee inscriptions ever found in a cave context, and the first from a cave to be translated.

"They tell us about what the people who wrote on the walls were doing in the cave and provide a direct link to how some Native Americans viewed caves as sacred places."