8 Most Incredible Archaeological Discoveries In National Parks Ever Made
America's ancient mound-builders created monuments as impressive and mysterious as the more famous sites, including Stonehenge and the prehistoric landscape of Salisbury Plain. The difference is that these sites are sculpted in earth not stone, and are often found in seemingly unlikely places for monumental architecture, like Louisiana.
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Poverty Point hosts the state's most impressive example. Constructed about 3,500 years ago, these giant, evocatively shaped earthworks were the largest in the Western Hemisphere when they were built. But beyond the obvious surmise that they were the work of Native Americans, little is known about the people responsible. Why did they abandon the site later?
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The Origins of Poverty Point
Primitive means were used to build and sculpt the ancient earthworks
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One of the strangest archaeological discoveries in America, Poverty Point -- named for a 19th-century plantation later located on the site, near the town of Epps in Northeast Louisiana -- was uncovered in the 1840s when a man exploring in search of a lead mine, Jacob Walters, stumbled onto the ancient mounds. However, it took another 110 years before an airplane flying over the site noticed the astounding shape in which the mounds had been constructed.
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Poverty Point's mounds are sculpted in concentric rings around a central plaza and are shaped like the letter C . No other mounds or ancient architecture feature this shape.
No other ancient mounds are this size. The largest, Bird Mound, is 72 feet high and 710 feet long. The builders, now known as the Poverty Point Culture, brought the earth by basket, bringing approximately 30 million 50-pound loads to rework the Earth on elevated Macon Ridge to their desired specifications. It was a monumental undertaking and only in recent times have archaeologists begun to understand some of the reasons why.
What is known is that the Poverty Point Culture consisted of Native American hunter-gatherers with a massive trade network. It was the most extensive trade network in North America at that time. Due to the population, estimated at hundreds if not thousands, Poverty Point has a claim to be the first American city. However, there was no written culture and only primitive tools have been excavated.
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Why Was Poverty Point Built?
Astronomical alignments for solstice viewing are a likely reason
Other giant mound sites exist in the U.S., including those by Ohio Hopewell Culture and Serpent Mound, an effigy mound constructed by unknown builders in the same state. Many Hopewell sites do have a ceremonial burial purpose. However, Serpent Mound was not a burial site but rather was crafted for astronomical alignments.
The same is true at Poverty Point. Yes, there is a grave on the 400-acre site, that of Sarah Guier, wife of the 19th-century plantation owner, buried in a mound dated 1,000 years later than the others. The site was originally sculpted between 1,700 and 1,100 B.C. It is from this period that all but one of the mounds date. The mound Guier was interred in (labeled D) is from 700 A.D.
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According to the 2013 study "Astronomy and Geometry at Poverty Point" written for the Louisiana Archaeological Society by William F. Romain and Norman L. Davis, Poverty Point was likely built according to a master plan with astronomical alignments in mind. Not only is the site aligned to the celestial north, but using data from 1,700 B.C., several mounds were aligned to summer and winter solstices, with other mounds conceived as viewing platforms to watch these events.
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Why Poverty Point Is Such A Significant Site
The mounds are state, national, and world heritage sites
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One of the many amazing things about Poverty Point, one of the most incredible archaeological ever made in America, is that it was built so quickly. Bird Mound (also known as Mound A), the largest of them all, is believed to have been constructed in only one to three months. Astonishingly, something so monumental could be achieved this fast and without wheeled carts or domesticated animals.
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Who exactly were these people? Did they have an architectural plan? These and other questions about the Native Americans who lived at Poverty Point are likely among the many ancient historical mysteries that won't ever be solved. But you can visit and see the site for yourself. Not only has Poverty Point been a National Historic Landmark since 1962, but Poverty Point has been a state park since 1972, and in 2014 was designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
The site is open daily and special events such as night hikes are sometimes offered at Poverty Point.
Where to see the Poverty Point monument:
Poverty Point World Heritage Site
Hours of Operation:
9 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily
Days closed:
Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Year's Day
Cost of admission:
$4 for adults; free for children and seniors
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