Beyond the Boundaries: Systematic Survey of the Poverty Point Landscape

Summary

The monumental core of Poverty Point (16WC5) has been the focus of considerable archaeological research, particularly since the early 1980s, but the broader spatial context of the site is less well known. Indeed, it has been estimated that < 12% of the Poverty Point Compatible Use Zone (PPCUZ), a nearly 5-km radius catchment area around the site, has been formally surveyed. The PPCUZ, which was established for management purposes, approximates the daily foraging radius for hunter-gatherers in a resource-rich environment. In 2017, the Poverty Point Station Archaeology Program initiated a systematic investigation of the PPCUZ. Working with volunteers and local landowners, a siteless survey approach is used to acquire data necessary to characterize past uses of the PPCUZ landscape. This poster presents the results of the first season of investigation and preliminary observations regarding patterns of land use and settlement in the area immediately surrounding Poverty Point.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 83rd Annual Meeting, Washington, DC (2018)

Keywords

Spatial Coverage

Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 22198