earthworks - Mysteries

Poverty Point: The Ancient City Built by Hunter-Gatherers

November 11, 2026 by Tommy Hayes

Mound A at Poverty Point, a large grass-covered earthen mound rising among trees in Louisiana, with a flight of steps climbing its slope

About 6 min readMore than 3,000 years ago, hunter-gatherers in Louisiana moved some 750,000 cubic metres of earth by hand to build North America’s largest Late Archaic settlement — a feat that overturned what archaeologists thought such societies could achieve.