between the years of 1700 and 1100 bc 3000 years before christopher columbus arrived in the new world an ancient american community began to shape its landscape into what is now northeast louisiana transforming the location into what would become one of the greatest archaeological sites in the united states this tenacious group of hunter-gatherers worked together for centuries to create one of the most revolutionary cultural landscapes in history one that would later become known as poverty point named after a plantation that was constructed on site in the 1800s poverty point was at one time home to the biggest community of hunter-gatherers in north america in fact poverty point's population was so large that some believe this settlement served as an american indian city the population size combined with the permanence of the occupation the scope of the public monuments the presence of symbolic art and the sophistication of the natives trade network further suggests that poverty point was indeed an ancient city this site was made famous when archaeologists discovered a series of five man-made mounds and six semi-elliptical ridges that have been built out of the soil thousands of years earlier american indian monuments that had altered the very topography of poverty point the purpose and significance of indian mounds vary from culture to culture we don't know what was in the minds of the people who built the mounds but what we can say something about is their potential impact on the people so the mounds may have signaled to other groups that it was a place of power and wealth a sixth mound was added later by a culture roughly 1800 years after the first five were built the people also constructed a central open area called the plaza for large gatherings and public activities here archaeologists found evidence of holes arranged in large rings researchers believe these holes once held big wooden posts i think at this point archaeologists do not have any good ideas what the rings of posts were used for but they may have been used by the community members in connection with social or ceremonial events the largest mound at the site known as mound a is the biggest indian mound of the time period and one of the largest mounds throughout all of north america in fact it was not surpassed in size until about 2 200 years after it was built scientists estimate that the construction of this ancient site was a long-term but not continuous project with monuments being added over a span of several hundred years there is also evidence that the landscape was altered leveled and raised in certain places prior to the construction of the mounds and ridges in order to build these earthworks workers had to shift more than 50 million cubic feet of dirt by hand a task they performed using woven baskets and animal hide bags to put that into perspective one cubic foot of dirt could weigh up to 100 pounds and each load contained about 50 pounds of earth that means in order to accomplish such an endeavor workers hauled nearly 100 million baskets of soil around the site this archaeological site is considered unique because of the scale and design of its constructions hunter-gatherers are typically thought of as groups of nomads who are historically known for maintaining a simple lifestyle and migrating frequently here however they not only settled in one place for centuries they also displayed landscape engineering capabilities far more sophisticated than had ever been documented for such a community we know at poverty point that mounds e a and b are more or less in a straight line that is if you take a line through the centers of each of those they line up and that line points almost due true north that is the only alignment that we can be confident of at the site the other mounds we don't know yet how they're aligned or how they relate spatially to the other mounds they challenged the cultural norm taking on a lifestyle that was more characteristic of agricultural societies which often show greater organization and effort placed in public construction projects it is believed that the people lived on the ridges at poverty point for nearly 400 years from the beginning of their construction until the site was abandoned [Music] residents sustained themselves on the bountiful landscape that surrounded them fishing hunting animals such as deer and duck and foraging for fruits nuts and other wild foods natural resources also provided these american indians with the necessary materials to ensure their survival the community used these resources to build homes and fashion tools for hunting and other tasks stone however was not available in the poverty point vicinity so in order to meet the resource needs of their community the people of poverty point established trading networks using the rivers and trails that stretched across the midwestern and southern united states allowing them to import nearly 80 tons of stone from incredible distances some as far as alabama georgia and iowa hundreds of miles away once again the community at poverty point displayed unusually sophisticated techniques for a hunter-gatherer culture [Music] the domestic skills of poverty points residents are evident through a variety of stone tools beautiful jewelry and decorative items that were unearthed at the site hunting tools such as spearheads and spear thrower or atlatl weights allowed people to increase the accuracy and effectiveness of their hunting techniques while plummets or net weights would have improved their fishing capabilities they paid special attention to detail when it came to symbolic artwork and jewelry they produced the collections of artifacts recovered from the site include stone pendants beads detailed clay figurines pipes and decorative items [Music] the american indians of northeast louisiana displayed incredible capabilities for their time far beyond those necessary for basic survival and they transformed poverty point into a rich landscape both visually and culturally it was for these reasons and more that in june 2014 the united nations educational scientific and cultural organizations world heritage committee named poverty point to its list of world heritage sites earning this designation is an honorable achievement that not only recognizes louisiana's strong sense of preservation but one that indicates the cultural and historical significance of poverty point on a global scale louisiana is proud that the achievements of this ancient american indian community have been so recognized a number of contributing factors led to this selection of poverty point as a world heritage site the site's hunter-gatherer society displayed a level of unprecedented cultural development which is evident through its advanced trading network the design of the landscape and the construction of the monuments the site has also been well preserved maintained and protected from modern intrusions and other threats all historical aspects of poverty point are original works of the ancient american indians [Music] no reconstruction has ever taken place this level of preservation combined with the interpretive and educational programming that is made readily available to the public were also driving forces behind the world heritage selection process poverty point has earned a number of national recognitions within the united states as well the property is listed on the national register of historic places and it has been named a national historic landmark a national monument and a smithsonian affiliate [Music] earning such prestigious distinctions is not only recognition of louisiana's strong sense of preservation but a testament to the hard work and determination of the people of northeast louisiana the poverty point museum houses a diverse collection of exhibits all of which showcase the unique and historical aspects of the region's american indian culture get an up-close look at a comprehensive collection of native artifacts that were discovered during archaeological research view timelines of poverty points history and read in-depth informational materials that discuss the area's ancient residents in more detail poverty point also contains a wealth of learning activities to enjoy from guided hikes to hands-on workshops park rangers regularly host live demonstrations of ancient american indian activities and survival techniques including flint knapping the native's method of crafting stone tools spear throwing with an atlatl and ancient cooking techniques such as using an earth oven [Music] the park offers many ways to explore the site guided tram tours give a great introduction to the park self-guided vehicle tours are also available on the site's two mile paved trail and visitors are welcome to request a hiking brochure to direct them on the various pathways that wind through the area [Music] thousands of years ago this site was transformed by an amazing feat of human achievement through immense effort and dedication the american indians of northeast louisiana created a unique monumental landscape and we're proud to call poverty point a world heritage site welcome to the monumental earthworks of poverty [Music] point you