Talk:Poverty Point

Site much older?

The book "The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Native American Mounds & Earthworks" by Gregory L. Little states that "the mound and embankments are believed to have been built around 1800 B.C. However, recent research now points to part of the huge mound possibly being erected as early as 3800 B.C. An associated mound known as the Lower Jackson Mound, located about 1.6 miles to the south, has also been dated to about 3800 B.C.—making it the oldest known mound in America." —Preceding unsigned comment added by 89.204.137.98 (talk) 12:26, 21 June 2010 (UTC)

Certainly not. Jackson Mound is not connected to Poverty Point in any way, just happens to be in the vicinity. There are very reliable dates for some of the Poverty Point mounds and the rings, all of them are in the 1650–1150 BCE range. The numbers are based on: Tristam R. Kidder, Anthony L. Ortmann, Lee J. Arco: Poverty Point and the Archaeology of Singularity. In: SAA Archaeological Record, Volume 8, Issue 5 (November 2008), page 10, and: Jon Gibson: The Ancient Mounds of Poverty Point. University of Florida Press, Gainsville et al, 2000, ISBN 0-8130-1833-1 And what kind of a book is your source? There is no record for an "Illustrated Encyclopedia of Native American Mounds & Earthworks" at the Library of Congress. The author seems to be connected with UFO and psychic nonsense. Please do not trust a book like that. --h-stt !? 07:35, 6 July 2010 (UTC)

Why is it called Poverty Point?

The name derives from the Poverty Point plantation, which included the site's land in modern times. See An Overview of Poverty Point from the Louisiana state government. WAvegetarian ^(talk) (email) ^(contribs) 21:09, 11 December 2005 (UTC)

Caption of the drawing: If it is meant "Before Christ" (BC) the figures should be put in reverse order (1800 - 1350 BC). --charlandes 15:19, 9 July 2007 (UTC)

something's missing.

I have everything I need except... How tall is it? —Preceding unsigned comment added by Irock67 (talk • contribs) 22:56, 18 May 2009 (UTC)

How tall is what? The height of the mounds is given in the article, the rings are estimated to have been around 6 feet tall at the time of building, today they are about 3 feet. Source: Jon Gibson: The Ancient Mounds of Poverty Point. University of Florida Press, Gainsville et al, 2000, ISBN 0-8130-1833-1 Does that answer your questions? --h-stt !? 07:17, 19 May 2009 (UTC)

No heights are given for Mounds A-E. On the other hand, "the Motley Mound rises 51 ft (16 m). The conical mound is circular and reaches a height of 24.5 ft (7.5 m)." Is this mound 51 ft or 24.5 ft high? 66.232.250.154 (talk) 20:11, 31 January 2013 (UTC)

Poverty Point dates

added additional ref on PP construction dates. RobertMem (talk) 17:53, 30 September 2013 (UTC)

Poverty Point dates

added additional ref on PP construction dates. Robertmem — Preceding unsigned comment added by RobertMem (talk • contribs) 15:30, 24 September 2013 (UTC)

Major page update and reorganization

I am in the process of doing a major update based on the most current research from the site as well as a reorganization for flow and to avoid redundancy.

Please let me know if you see any problems with my rewrite. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Robertnola (talk • contribs) 14:30, 27 November 2018 (UTC)

Complete Major Update

I have completed a major update of content for accuracy, added current references, copyedit for grammar, style, and clarity. In the next few days I will clean up reference styles. Robertnola (talk) 02:38, 9 February 2019 (UTC)

Thank you! Looks good. Cheers, Pete Tillman (talk) 23:55, 10 February 2019 (UTC)

Hi there sorry I am new to Wikipedia I was wondering has there been any research into the relationship between the positioning of the mounds and the solstice positions and relation to the stars ect. Wolly1000 (talk) 11:02, 18 February 2023 (UTC)

@Wolly1000: If I were you, I would look at English Wikipedia's guidance on reliable sources, then go through scholar.google.com/scholar?hl=en&as_sdt=0%2C48&q=%22Poverty+Point%22+solstice+equinox+stars. With any other searches outside of Google Scholar, be careful to discard anything that is user generated content like blogs or self-published sources. Peaceray (talk) 16:18, 18 February 2023 (UTC)

Sources

- a 1999 revisit of astronomical alignment claims.Poverty Point as Structure, Event, Process a link to download Poverty Point as Structure, Event, Process December 2005 Journal of Archaeological Method and Theory 12(4):335-364 DOI:10.1007/s10816-005-8460-4 by Kenneth E. Sassaman PLACING THE POVERTY POINT MOUNDS IN THEIR TEMPORAL CONTEXT Anthony L. Ortmann American Antiquity - I can provide a copy of this. Doug Weller talk 13:41, 2 November 2019 (UTC) Also apologies if any of these are duplicates. Doug Weller talk 13:22, 6 November 2019 (UTC)

Graham Hancock references

The site is shown in the netflix documentary. This should probably be referenced as the site is shown in detail and even if the theories proposed are contentious it could be noted under media or popular culture perhaps? 2001:818:DB48:A700:D0DF:DD5C:11E9:22B1 (talk) 20:28, 20 August 2023 (UTC)

Agriculture

Why is there no mention of it possibly being used for agriculture? 174.77.208.227 (talk) 00:07, 22 May 2024 (UTC)

Because they were not farmers. The people who built Poverty Point were hunter-gatherers. A number of peoples around the world have formed complex societies and raised large monuments without being farmers. Donald Albury 00:43, 22 May 2024 (UTC)

Lede Needs Reworked

Lede fails to mention to basic and critical facts.

1) Poverty Point was built by Native Americans. A natural question, and a Reader shouldn't have to read 3/4 of the Article to find this fact, when it is basic information.

2) Why it's called "Poverty Point". Another natural question that should be answered early in the Article.

[Off-topic stuff redacted, see WP:TALK]

~2026-38645-73 (talk) 13:54, 6 August 2026 (UTC)

1. "Native Americans" is somewhat anachronistic, as the term was invented by the U.S. government to classify people descended from the indigenous inhabitants of what is now the United States. The lead does say that Poverty Point was built by people of the Poverty Point culture, an unfortunate tautology. The Poverty Point culture article describes the people of that culture as "prehistotic indigenous people" who lived in the lower Mississippi valley. While I have not reviewed the pertinate literature, I suspect, based on my readings about other prehistoric cultures in what is now the southeastern U.S., that the description reflects the terminology used in the scholarly literature about Poverty Point, and Wikipedia must follow what reliable sources say. Maybe others familiar with the literature can suggest changes to the wording.

2. The last sentence of the lead states: The earthworks are named after Poverty Point Plantation, a 19th-century slave plantation on the property. Donald Albury 17:18, 6 August 2026 (UTC)

Bering Strait mention

Inside the history segment when introducing that native Americans built these mounds, it is stated that most likely humans came into north America through the Bering Strait. At this time, that is no longer the general consensus in the field. It has shifted toward coastal migration due to the discovery of earlier human sites in NA. The strait would not be open for a land transit until after humans arrived. I suggest we adjust this line to note that the consensus is coastal travel, or simply remove the Bering Strait mention. ~2026-44244-89 (talk) 19:29, 11 August 2026 (UTC)

The coastal route would have started from the Bering Strait land bridge. The inland route also would have started from there. See Beringia#Human habitation and migration. I see no reason to change the statement. Donald Albury 23:37, 11 August 2026 (UTC)