The NYT missed the most interesting part of this discovery. The published paper went on to note:

"The coprolites were found in a far corner of the cave site, collected together beneath a horizontally-positioned, oval-shaped rock formation with a large hole in its center that appeared to have been worn smooth, possibly by human interaction, though determination of the cause of the wear was beyond the scope of this research project. This horizontally-positioned oval-shaped formation with the hole in its center was connected at its base to a similarly shaped, vertically-positioned rock formation that had no hole. It appears that at one time the vertically-positioned formation could have pivoted at its connecting point to cover the opening of the horizontally-positioned formation. However, after thousands of years of resting in the vertical position, the covering rock formation could not be moved and appears to be permanently 'up.'"