Multi-method geoarchaeological analyses demonstrates exceptionally rapid construction of Ridge West 3 at Poverty Point

Kidder, Tristram R.; Su, Kai; Henry, Edward R.; Grooms, Seth B.; Ervin, Kelly

doi:10.1080/0734578x.2021.1958445

Cited by 10 publications

(24 citation statements)

References 14 publications

(6 reference statements)

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“…The association between posts and earthworks is a potentially more significant point of architectural variation between the two sites. The large posts erected during or after the construction of Mounds A and X are similar to those observed in the plaza of Poverty Point, but there is no evidence of posts being placed in earthworks at a similar scale at Poverty Point (Hargrave et al 2021; Kidder et al 2021; Ortmann and Kidder 2013). This suggests shared (although not identical) architectural practices in terms of form and ultimate function.…”

Section: Defining Poverty Point: the View From Jaketownmentioning

confidence: 80%

“…Although we do not know the full extent or form of the earthworks at Jaketown, geoarchaeological data discussed above demonstrate that both Mounds A and X were constructed rapidly, comparable to the construction of Mound A and the ridges at Poverty Point (Kidder et al 2021; Ortmann and Kidder 2013). This suggests similar methods of construction at the two sites, at least in terms of the pace of labor.…”

Section: Defining Poverty Point: the View From Jaketownmentioning

confidence: 92%

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The View from Jaketown: Considering Variation in the Poverty Point Culture of the Lower Mississippi Valley

et al. 2022

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Recent research at Jaketown, a Late Archaic earthwork site in the Lower Mississippi Valley, suggests that the culture-historical framework used to interpret Jaketown and contemporary sites in the region obscures differences in practices across sites. As an alternative, we propose a framework focused on variation in material culture, architecture, and foodways between Jaketown and Poverty Point, the regional type site. Our analysis indicates that people used Poverty Point Objects and imported lithics at Jaketown by 4525–4100 cal BP—earlier than elsewhere in the region. By 3450–3350 cal BP, people intensively occupied Jaketown, harvesting a consistent suite of wild plants. Between 3445 and 3270 cal BP, prior to the apex of earthwork construction at Poverty Point, the community at Jaketown built at least two earthworks and multiple post structures before catastrophic flooding sometime after 3300 cal BP buried the Late Archaic landscape under alluvium. These new data lead us to conclude that the archaeological record of the Late Archaic Lower Mississippi Valley does not reflect a uniform regional culture. Rather, relationships between Jaketown and Poverty Point indicate a multipolar history in which communities selectively participated in larger social phenomena—such as exchange networks and architectural traditions—while maintaining diverse, localized practices.

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Section: Defining Poverty Point: the View From Jaketownmentioning

confidence: 80%

Section: Defining Poverty Point: the View From Jaketownmentioning

confidence: 92%

The View from Jaketown: Considering Variation in the Poverty Point Culture of the Lower Mississippi Valley

et al. 2022

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“…Floors are also suggested in Gibson's (1994:176, 2019) test of the Dunbar Mound, which is associated with a distinctively ritual space. Potentially extensive habitation evidence on or below the ridges (which may have involved structures) was removed by rapid ridge construction or destroyed by erosion/historic cultivation; the anthropogenic materials throughout the ridge fill reflect the churned-up use of midden-rich soils in their construction, not the incremental use of ridge surfaces when they were raised in elevation (e.g., Gibson 2001:105; Kidder et al 2021:224–225; Spivey et al 2015:150–151). In addition, geophysical survey has suggested that ridge construction was extremely complex, involving smaller “components” that were built and possibly modified, with both activities obliterating earlier or contemporary structural evidence (Hargrave et al 2021:203–205).…”

Section: Timber Circles At Poverty Pointmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Poverty Point (16WC5) in West Carroll Parish, Louisiana, is a singular monumental Late Archaic site dating between about 1600 and 1000 BC: it comprises at least five mounds and six unique concentric ridges surrounding an open area (Figure 1). Recently placed on the World Heritage List of archaeological sites (US Department of Interior [USDOI] 2013), its earthworks and their implications have dominated discussion (Anderson 2004; Clark 2004; Ford and Webb 1956; Gibson 2004; 2019; 2021; Gibson and Carr 2004; Kidder 2011; Kidder et al 2021; Sassaman and Heckenberger 2004; Spivey et al 2015; Webb 1968). Likewise, despite extensive but largely small-scale excavations (USDOI 2013:81–83), the historiography of the site—quite simply a narrative of what went on there as we construct it—used to interpret the individual and collective importance of its parts remains problematic, although significant interpretations have been suggested (e.g., Gibson 2001, 2004, 2019, 2021; Kidder 2011; Kidder and Sassaman 2009; Spivey et al 2015).…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Better controls over chronology and fine-scale stratigraphic interpretations (Mound A: Kidder 2011; Kidder et al 2008, 2009); Mounds B and C: Gibson 2019; Kidder et al 2004, 2009; Ortmann 2010; and certain ridge segments: Hargrave et al 2021; Kidder et al 2021) are demonstrating that what had been viewed as structures seemingly with preplanned monumental significance are the products of complex event sequences. In one major example, Mound A, which structurally dominates the site (and our interpretations) with its scale and novel construction details, lacks mortuary associations or multiple stages of renewal in planned platform constructions; both these features have been used widely elsewhere to suggest explanations for mound building in the eastern United States (Kidder 2011:103).…”

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confidence: 99%

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Two Types of Ritual Space at the Poverty Point Site 16WC5

Clay

2023

Am. Antiq.

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Two types of features at the Late Archaic period Poverty Point site in Louisiana—large timber post circles and repetitively used activity surfaces later covered by mounding—are examined as spaces that were the products of historical event sequences involving their construction, their entwined but differing ritual uses, and their final deconstruction or removal. This approach is a particularizing, historicizing way of approaching the features of this monumental hunter-gatherer site, an alternative to a more generalizing view in which its totality as a site or “place” is seen as the interrelated product of many historical acts over time or as a mosaic of historically created and used “spaces.” Analysis of these feature types suggests that spaces of ritual activity in the larger site were used differently, involving different types of events and serving different functions in a developing, perhaps shifting, larger ritual landscape.

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The role of geoarchaeology in the interpretation of fragmented buildings and occupation surfaces: The case of coastal settlements in northeast Scotland

Reid,

Milek,

O'Brien

et al. 2023

Geoarchaeology

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Around the world, poorly preserved buildings and occupation deposits often represent the primary evidence for archaeological structures and settlements. Integrated geoarchaeological methods, such as soil chemistry and micromorphology, can be used to maximise the information obtained from such deposits regarding site preservation and the use of space. However, archaeologists are often reluctant to apply these methods if they suspect that preservation is poor or stratigraphy is not visible in the field. To assess the role that geoarchaeology can play in the interpretation of fragmented and poorly preserved structures, this paper presents the results of two case studies in which multiple geoarchaeological methods (microrefuse analysis, pH, electrical conductivity, magnetic susceptibility, loss‐on‐ignition, portable XRF and micromorphology) were applied to poorly preserved occupation deposits and fragmented buildings in early medieval coastal settlements in northeast Scotland. Micromorphology proved to be fundamental for recognising and understanding the composition of occupation deposits that had formerly been floor surfaces. It also aided interpretations for the use of space and maintenance practices and improved an understanding of the post‐depositional processes that had affected stratigraphic visibility at the macroscale. When subjected to principal component analysis, the geochemical, magnetic and microrefuse data were able to provide new details about activity areas, and successfully identified and filtered out the effects of post‐medieval contamination. Most significantly, the integrated approach demonstrates that fragmented buildings and poorly preserved occupation surfaces can retain surviving characteristics of the use of space, even if the floor surfaces were not preserved well enough to be clearly defined in the field or in thin section.

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Multi-method geoarchaeological analyses demonstrates exceptionally rapid construction of Ridge West 3 at Poverty Point

Cited by 10 publications

References 14 publications

The View from Jaketown: Considering Variation in the Poverty Point Culture of the Lower Mississippi Valley

The View from Jaketown: Considering Variation in the Poverty Point Culture of the Lower Mississippi Valley

Two Types of Ritual Space at the Poverty Point Site 16WC5

The role of geoarchaeology in the interpretation of fragmented buildings and occupation surfaces: The case of coastal settlements in northeast Scotland

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