Poverty Point
Archaic

Poverty Point

Wikimedia Commons / Maximilian Dörrbecker (Chumwa) (CC BY-SA 2.5)
Location
West Carroll Parish, Louisiana
Period
Poverty Point culture (1700–1100 BCE)
State
Louisiana
Tradition
Archaic

Overview

Poverty Point is a prehistoric earthwork complex built by a hunter-gatherer society around 1700–1100 BCE, making it one of the oldest large-scale earthworks in the Americas. The site consists of six concentric ridges arranged in a semicircle, covering an area of about 345 acres.

Historical significance

Poverty Point was designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2014, recognized for its exceptional demonstration of the complexity achievable by hunter-gatherer societies. The construction of the site's earthworks — estimated to have required the movement of 35 million baskets of earth — challenges traditional assumptions about social organization among non-agricultural peoples.

Key discoveries

  • Six concentric semicircular earthen ridges rising 4–6 feet, arranged over 345 acres
  • Mound A — a 70-foot-high earthen mound constructed in less than 90 days based on radiocarbon evidence
  • Over 1.5 million small clay cooking balls called Poverty Point objects, used for heating and cooking
  • Lapidary and stone tool artifacts from sources as distant as the Ohio Valley and the Appalachians
  • Evidence of long-distance trade in copper, galena, greenstone, and soapstone

About the site

Poverty Point is a prehistoric earthwork complex located in northeastern Louisiana, constructed by a Late Archaic period hunter-gatherer society between approximately 1700 and 1100 BCE. The site represents one of the earliest and most complex earthwork constructions in North America and challenges long-held assumptions about the social capabilities of non-agricultural peoples.

The site's central feature is a set of six concentric earthen ridges arranged in a semicircle approximately 3/4 of a mile in diameter, opening to the east toward Bayou Macon. The ridges rise between four and six feet above the surrounding landscape and were separated by open corridors. Archaeological excavations have revealed that the ridges supported residential structures, suggesting a resident population of several hundred to several thousand people.

Poverty Point was also a major regional center for trade and craft production. Lithic artifacts from throughout the site indicate the importation of stone materials from sources as far as 1,000 miles distant, including Ohio pipestone, Ouachita Mountain novaculite, and Appalachian soapstone. The site produced large quantities of small baked clay objects, called Poverty Point objects, which were used as heat-retaining cooking stones in a region lacking suitable rocks.

The site was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1972 and became a National Monument in 1988. Its designation as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2014 recognized its outstanding universal value as a testament to the organizational capacity of prehistoric hunter-gatherer societies.

Source

Content for this page is derived from the Wikipedia article on Poverty Point and is used under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Source: Wikipedia.

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Frequently asked about Poverty Point

What is Poverty Point?
Poverty Point is a prehistoric earthwork complex built by a hunter-gatherer society around 1700–1100 BCE, making it one of the oldest large-scale earthworks in the Americas. The site consists of six concentric ridges arranged in a semicircle, covering an area of about 345 acres.
When was Poverty Point occupied?
Poverty Point was occupied during the Poverty Point culture (1700–1100 BCE). Poverty Point was designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2014, recognized for its exceptional demonstration of the complexity achievable by hunter-gatherer societies.
Where is Poverty Point located?
Poverty Point is located in West Carroll Parish, Louisiana.
What is the significance of Poverty Point?
Poverty Point was designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2014, recognized for its exceptional demonstration of the complexity achievable by hunter-gatherer societies. The construction of the site's earthworks — estimated to have required the movement of 35 million baskets of earth — challenges traditional assumptions about social organization among non-agricultural peoples.

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