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Placing the Poverty Point Mounds in their Temporal Context

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 January 2017

Anthony L. Ortmann
Anthony L. Ortmann*
Affiliation:
Department of Geosciences, 334 Blackburn Science, Murray State University, Murray, Kentucky 42071 (anthony.ortmann@murraystate.edu)
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Abstract

Sampling biases in archaeological research may inadvertently lead to unsubstantiated assumptions about the relationship between various site features. The majority of radiometric dates from the Poverty Point site have been recovered from excavations in the large, earthen ridges. While archaeological investigations have previously been undertaken in the Poverty Point mounds, few of these excavations have yielded radiometric dates. As a result of the almost complete absence of chronometric data from Poverty Point's mounds, the construction of these features is generally assumed to have occurred during the same time span as construction of the ridges. New radiometric dates from the Poverty Point mounds reveal information about the timing and pace of their construction. These new chronological data provide the basis for a more detailed developmental sequence, and may allow for the development of new hypotheses about population size, the organization of labor, architectural relationships, and the degree of social complexity at Poverty Point. Examining the development of cultural landscapes, such as the chronology of earthwork construction at Poverty Point, also provides a better understanding of the ways prehistoric societies interacted with and modified the environments in which they lived.

Resumen

Resumen

Sesgos de muestreo en la investigación arqueológica pueden, involuntariamente, llevar a supuestos sin fundamento sobre la relación entre distintos rasgos en un sitio. La mayoría de los fechados radiométricos del sitio Poverty Point han sido recuperados de excavaciones en las crestas elevadas y no de los montículos. A pesar de que investigaciones arqueológicas han sido realizadas previamente en los montículos de Poverty Point, pocas de estas excavaciones han producido fechados radiométricos. Como resultado de la casi total ausencia de fechados cronométricos de los montículos de Poverty Point, generalmente se asume que la construcción de estos rasgos se produjo durante el mismo lapso temporal que la construcción de las crestas. Nuevos fechados radiométricos de los montículos de Poverty Point revelan información acerca de la temporalidad y ritmo de su construcción. Esta nueva información cronológica proporciona la base para una secuencia de desarrollo más detallada, y podría permitir el desarrollo de nuevas hipótesis sobre el tamaño de la población, organización del trabajo, relaciones arquitectónicas, y el grado de complejidad social en Poverty Point. Revisando el desarrollo de los paisajes culturales, como es la cronología de construcción de obras de tierra en Poverty Point, también proporciona una mejor comprensión de las formas en que las sociedades prehistóricas interactuaron con y modificaron los entornos ambientales en que vivieron.

Type
Reports
Information
American Antiquity , Volume 75 , Issue 3 , July 2010 , pp. 657 - 678
Copyright
Copyright © Society for American Archaeology 2010

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