Some 3,500 years ago, hunter-gatherers began building massive earthwork mounds along the Mississippi River at Poverty Point, a UNESCO World Heritage Site in northeast Louisiana. “Conservatively, they moved 140,000 dump truck loads of dirt, all without horses or wheels,” said Tristram “T.R.” Kidder, the Edward S. and Tedi Macias Professor of anthropology. “It was incredibly hard work. The big question is why? What was their motivation?”
Why did ancient people build Poverty Point?
