Date:

Research reveals new insights into ancient mound complex of Poverty Point

A joint project by the University of Louisiana Monroe (ULM) and the Minnesota State University Moorhead (MSUM) has revealed new insights into the ancient ceremonial mound and ridge complex of Poverty Point, located on the Bayou Macon in present-day Louisiana in the United States.

Poverty Point, named after a 19th-century plantation was built over several phases, with the earliest archaeological evidence suggesting that construction began sometime from 1800 BC during the Late Archaic Period, continuing though to 1200 BC.

Previous Studies have determined that the builders of the complex levelled the landscape to create a central plaza, surrounded by a series of earthen ridges and mounds that covers an area of around 345 acres.

The builders were an indigenous society of hunter-fisher-gatherers, identified as the Poverty Point Culture that inhabited stretches of the Lower Mississippi Valley and surrounding Gulf Coast. Over 100 sites have been attributed to the Poverty Point Culture, with anthropologists proposing that they descended from immigrants who came to North America across the Bering Strait land bridge approximately 12,000 to 15,000 years ago.

- Advertisement -
Site plan of Poverty Point – Image Credit : Maximilian Dörrbecker (Chumwa) – CC BY-SA 2.5

The new study focused on the central Plaza using ground penetrating radar, in addition to a combination of soil coring, analyses of soil samples, sieving for artefacts and by lowering a geophysical sensor down the cored holes.

“The results show that the Plaza contains a number of distinct earthworks. A subtle high spot in the Plaza, the West Plaza Rise, was not a natural rise, but a purposely elevated feature within the Plaza fill” said Diana Greenlee, adjunct professor and station archaeologist at Poverty Point World Heritage Site.

An underground ridge was formed by removing more of the original soil from both sides that stretches across the Plaza from the West Plaza Rise to Mound C.

“These earthworks, together with a buried mound-like feature has unique soil properties unlike any of the known earthworks at the site, demonstrating that the Plaza at Poverty Point has a more elaborate construction history than we previously knew” said Greenlee.

ULM

Header Image Credit : Jeffrey M. Frank – Shutterstock

 

 

- Advertisement -
Mark Milligan
Mark Milligan
Mark Milligan is an award winning journalist and the Managing Editor at HeritageDaily. His background is in archaeology and computer science, having written over 7,500 articles across several online publications. Mark is a member of the Association of British Science Writers (ABSW), the World Federation of Science Journalists, and in 2023 was the recipient of the British Citizen Award for Education and the BCA Medal of Honour.

Mobile Application

spot_img

Related Articles

Inca quarries and road network found in Cañete

Archaeologists have discovered Inca quarries and a road network in Cerros de Quilmaná and Cerro Quinta Freno, in the province of Cañete, Peru.

Prison bakery for enslaved people found in Roman Pompeii

Archaeologists have uncovered a Prison bakery during recent excavations in Pompeii.

Baboons in Ancient Egypt were raised in captivity before being mummified

In a new study published in the open-access journal PLOS ONE, researchers examined a collection of baboon mummies from the ancient Egyptian site of Gabbanat el-Qurud, the so-called Valley of the Monkeys on the west bank of Luxor.

Archaeologists find 22 mummified burials in Peru

A Polish-Peruvian team of archaeologists have uncovered 22 mummified burials in Barranca, Peru.

Oldest prehistoric fortress found in remote Siberia

An international team, led by archaeologists from Freie Universität Berlin has uncovered an ancient prehistoric fortress in a remote region of Siberia known as Amnya.

Top 10 archaeological discoveries of 2023

The field of archaeology has been continuously evolving in 2023, making significant strides in uncovering new historical findings, preserving cultural heritage, and employing innovative technologies to study the past.

War in Ukraine sees destruction of cultural heritage not witnessed since WW2

The full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine on 24 February 2022 has resulted in a significant loss of human lives and the national and international displacement of many Ukrainian people.

Archaeologists find five Bronze Age axes in the forests of Kociewie

According to an announcement by the Pomeranian Provincial Conservator of Monuments, archaeologists have discovered five Bronze Age axes in Starogard Forest District, located in Kociewie, Poland.