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== Earthworks ==
== Earthworks ==


Although the [[earthworks]] at [[Poverty Point]] are not the oldest in the United States, the earthworks at [[Watson Brake]] came 1900 years earlier,<ref>Fagan, Brian M. 2005. Ancient North America: The Archaeology of a Continent. Fourth Edition. New York. Thames & Hudson Inc. p390.</ref> they are still quite notable because they are the oldest earthworks of this size in the western hemisphere. There are 6 concentric [[earthworks]] which are separated by ditches, or swales, where dirt was removed to build the ridges. The ends of the outermost ridge are 1,204 meters apart, which is nearly 3/4 of a mile. The ends of the interior embankment are 594 meters apart. If the ridges were straightened and laid end to end, they would comprise an embankment 12 kilometers, 7 1/2 miles, in length. Originally, the ridges stood 4 to 6 feet high and 140 to 200 feet apart. Many years of plowing have reduced some to only one foot in height. Archeologists suspect that the homes of 500 to 1,000 inhabitants were located on these ridges. <ref>http://www.lpb.org/programs/povertypoint/pp_transcript.html</ref> Thus making this the largest settlement at that time in North America. There was also a 50 foot high 500 foot long earthen pyramid aligned east to west at this site.<ref>Townsend, Richard F. 2004 Hero, Hawk and Open Hand: American Indian Art of the Ancient Midwest and South. London. Yale University Press. p17.</ref> A large bird effigy mound measuring 70 feet high and 640 feet across is also located on the Poverty Point site. <ref>http://www.lithiccastinglab.com/gallery-pages/2001aprilbeads.htm</ref> In the center of the [[Poverty Point]] concentric earthworks is the plaza, a flat, open area covering about 15 hectares or 37 acres. Archeologists suspect the plaza was the site of ceremonies, rituals, dances, games and other public activities. On the western side of the plaza, archeologists have found some unusually deep pits. One explanation is these holes once held huge wooden posts, which served as calendar markers. Using the sun’s shadows, the inhabitants could have predicted the changing of the seasons. <ref>http://www.lpb.org/programs/povertypoint/pp_transcript.html</ref> It is important to remember that this great building project would have demanded a sustained investment of human labor, the organized skill and the cultural will to sustain the effort over many centuries.<ref>Berlo, Janet C. and Ruth B. Phillips. 1998. Native North American Art. Oxford. Oxford University Press. p75-76.</ref> One authority calculated that it would take more that 1,236,007 cubic feet of basket loaded soil to complete the earthworks. That would mean 1,350 adults laboring 70 days a year for three years.<ref>Fagan, Brian M. 2005. Ancient North America: The Archaeology of a Continent. Fourth Edition. New York. Thames & Hudson Inc. p418.</ref>
Although the [[earthworks]] at [[Poverty Point]] are not the oldest in the United States (the earthworks at [[Watson Brake]] came 1900 years earlier<ref>Fagan, Brian M. 2005. Ancient North America: The Archaeology of a Continent. Fourth Edition. New York. Thames & Hudson Inc. p390.</ref>) they are still quite notable because they are the oldest earthworks of this size in the western hemisphere. There are 6 concentric [[earthworks]] which are separated by ditches, or swales, where dirt was removed to build the ridges. The ends of the outermost ridge are 1,204 meters apart, which is nearly 3/4 of a mile. The ends of the interior embankment are 594 meters apart. If the ridges were straightened and laid end to end, they would comprise an embankment 12 kilometers, 7 1/2 miles, in length. Originally, the ridges stood 4 to 6 feet high and 140 to 200 feet apart. Many years of plowing have reduced some to only one foot in height. Archeologists suspect that the homes of 500 to 1,000 inhabitants were located on these ridges. <ref>http://www.lpb.org/programs/povertypoint/pp_transcript.html</ref> Thus making this the largest settlement at that time in North America. There was also a 50 foot high 500 foot long earthen pyramid aligned east to west at this site.<ref>Townsend, Richard F. 2004 Hero, Hawk and Open Hand: American Indian Art of the Ancient Midwest and South. London. Yale University Press. p17.</ref> A large bird effigy mound measuring 70 feet high and 640 feet across is also located on the Poverty Point site. <ref>http://www.lithiccastinglab.com/gallery-pages/2001aprilbeads.htm</ref> In the center of the [[Poverty Point]] concentric earthworks is the plaza, a flat, open area covering about 15 hectares or 37 acres. Archeologists suspect the plaza was the site of ceremonies, rituals, dances, games and other public activities. On the western side of the plaza, archeologists have found some unusually deep pits. One explanation is these holes once held huge wooden posts, which served as calendar markers. Using the sun’s shadows, the inhabitants could have predicted the changing of the seasons. <ref>http://www.lpb.org/programs/povertypoint/pp_transcript.html</ref> It is important to remember that this great building project would have demanded a sustained investment of human labor, the organized skill and the cultural will to sustain the effort over many centuries.<ref>Berlo, Janet C. and Ruth B. Phillips. 1998. Native North American Art. Oxford. Oxford University Press. p75-76.</ref> One authority calculated that it would take more that 1,236,007 cubic feet of basket loaded soil to complete the earthworks. That would mean 1,350 adults laboring 70 days a year for three years.<ref>Fagan, Brian M. 2005. Ancient North America: The Archaeology of a Continent. Fourth Edition. New York. Thames & Hudson Inc. p418.</ref>


== Artifacts ==
== Artifacts ==

Revision as of 22:10, 16 July 2009

An aerial view of the Poverty Point earthworks built by the ancient Poverty Point culture.

Poverty Point culture is an archaeological culture that corresponds to an ancient group of American Indians who inhabited the area of the lower Mississippi Valley and surrounding Gulf coast. This culture thrived from 2200 BC- 700 BC, which is during the late Archaic period. Evidence of this culture has been found at more than 100 sites including the Jaketown Site near Belzoni, Mississippi. Although the largest and best known site is near modern day Epps, Louisiana at Poverty Point which lies on the Macon Ridge. The Poverty Point culture may have hit its peak around 1500 BC which could make it the first complex culture and possibly the first tribal culture not only in the Mississippi Delta but probably in what is now the United States of America.[1]

Poverty Point culture was followed by the Tchefuncte and Lake Cormorant cultures of the Tchula period (a local manifestation of Early Woodland). These descendant cultures differed from Povert Point culture in trading over shorter distances, creating less massive public projects, completely adopting ceramics for storage and cooking, and a lack of lapidary industry.

Earthworks

Although the earthworks at Poverty Point are not the oldest in the United States (the earthworks at Watson Brake came 1900 years earlier[2]) they are still quite notable because they are the oldest earthworks of this size in the western hemisphere. There are 6 concentric earthworks which are separated by ditches, or swales, where dirt was removed to build the ridges. The ends of the outermost ridge are 1,204 meters apart, which is nearly 3/4 of a mile. The ends of the interior embankment are 594 meters apart. If the ridges were straightened and laid end to end, they would comprise an embankment 12 kilometers, 7 1/2 miles, in length. Originally, the ridges stood 4 to 6 feet high and 140 to 200 feet apart. Many years of plowing have reduced some to only one foot in height. Archeologists suspect that the homes of 500 to 1,000 inhabitants were located on these ridges. [3] Thus making this the largest settlement at that time in North America. There was also a 50 foot high 500 foot long earthen pyramid aligned east to west at this site.[4] A large bird effigy mound measuring 70 feet high and 640 feet across is also located on the Poverty Point site. [5] In the center of the Poverty Point concentric earthworks is the plaza, a flat, open area covering about 15 hectares or 37 acres. Archeologists suspect the plaza was the site of ceremonies, rituals, dances, games and other public activities. On the western side of the plaza, archeologists have found some unusually deep pits. One explanation is these holes once held huge wooden posts, which served as calendar markers. Using the sun’s shadows, the inhabitants could have predicted the changing of the seasons. [6] It is important to remember that this great building project would have demanded a sustained investment of human labor, the organized skill and the cultural will to sustain the effort over many centuries.[7] One authority calculated that it would take more that 1,236,007 cubic feet of basket loaded soil to complete the earthworks. That would mean 1,350 adults laboring 70 days a year for three years.[8]

Artifacts

Female effigy clay bojects from Poverty Point
Atlatl weights and carved stone gorgets from Poverty Point

Archeological excavation has revealed a wealth of artifacts, including animal effigy figures, hand molded baked clay cooking objects, simple thick-walled pottery, stone vessels, spear points, adzes, hoes, drills, edge-retouched flakes, and blades.[9] Also cooking balls which were used to prepare meals. It is understood that dozens of the cooking balls were heated in a bonfire and dropped in pits along with food. Different shaped balls controlled cooking temperatures and cooking time. Another type of artifact found was crude human figures which are thought to be used for magical purposes. Points made of imported gray Midwestern flint were also found. In addition plummets which were fashioned out of heavy iron ore imported from Hot Springs, Arkansas, and served as weights for fish nets. [10] Many of these raw materials used such as slate, copper, galena, jasper, quartz, and soapstone are from as far as 620 miles away. [11] The Poverty Point culture developed a tradition of making high quality stylized carved and polished miniature stone beads. Other early cultures in the United States rarely used stone to make their beads opting for softer materials such as shell or bone. The fine cutting, engraving and polishing lapidary work these people did that resulted in such fine and unique art forms is quite remarkable. They were made in the image of many different animals that would have been common to their environment at that time some examples found are an owl, dog, locust, and turkey vulture.[12]

See also

References

  1. ^ http://www.deltablues.net/jon.html
  2. ^ Fagan, Brian M. 2005. Ancient North America: The Archaeology of a Continent. Fourth Edition. New York. Thames & Hudson Inc. p390.
  3. ^ http://www.lpb.org/programs/povertypoint/pp_transcript.html
  4. ^ Townsend, Richard F. 2004 Hero, Hawk and Open Hand: American Indian Art of the Ancient Midwest and South. London. Yale University Press. p17.
  5. ^ http://www.lithiccastinglab.com/gallery-pages/2001aprilbeads.htm
  6. ^ http://www.lpb.org/programs/povertypoint/pp_transcript.html
  7. ^ Berlo, Janet C. and Ruth B. Phillips. 1998. Native North American Art. Oxford. Oxford University Press. p75-76.
  8. ^ Fagan, Brian M. 2005. Ancient North America: The Archaeology of a Continent. Fourth Edition. New York. Thames & Hudson Inc. p418.
  9. ^ http://www.geocities.com/xjpcx/Povertypointpage.html
  10. ^ http://www.deltablues.net/jon.html
  11. ^ Fagan, Brian M. 2005. Ancient North America: The Archaeology of a Continent. Fourth Edition. New York. Thames & Hudson Inc. p418.
  12. ^ http://www.lithiccastinglab.com/gallery-pages/2001aprilbeads.htm
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