III.

Poverty Point Culture

The earliest evidence of mound building in North America, other than middens, comes from the Poverty Point site in northeastern Louisiana. Mounds here were constructed between about 1700 bc and 700 bc. The largest mound at Poverty Point, resembling a bird, rises some 20 m (70 ft) above the ground and is about 210 to 240 m (about 700 to 800 ft) wide at the base. Its purpose was probably ceremonial. Another part of the complex consists of six concentric rows of earthen ridges with a large plaza at their center; archaeological evidence indicates the ridges held structures. The site also contains five smaller conical mounds of unknown purpose. None of the Poverty Point mounds were for burials. Poverty Point peoples, as well as other early Southeast peoples who made similar mounds, are thought to have been nonagricultural, but they may have engaged in some primitive farming. See also Poverty Point National Monument.