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Poverty Point, Louisiana, USA


Not A Rockstar

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In NE Lousiana there is a lesser known World Heritage Site of one of the most amazing archeological locations in North America. It appears to be a massive half circle of ridges to raise housing above flood waters, and also features a huge mound said to be in the shape of a bird. It predates Stonehenge and is believed to have once been a hub for trade throughout the Mississippi River Basin, i.e. all of the central North American region.

Google it and consider a trip there if you are close enough to do it on a vacation. Perfect place to let the kids run wild somewhere and they have a wonderful Ranger program for children to do a work book while there and earn a glittery fun badge for the effort.

The point of this post, however, is about a youtube video I watched in the course of reviewing a lot of them on it. Your first warning is when he claims he is going to teach us the TRUE history of the spot, which our government never will.... *heavy sigh*… (why would anyone repress this if it was true for God's sake???) BUT, he does bring up some points I find curious and if you will please accept that I do not think this guy is some expert and just take what he says as being a hypothesis and speculation at best, I would like some of our experts to weigh in on the possibility that it was, indeed, a northern version of some of the South American complexes we see. My Bs Meter is sitting at 51% as possibly true so I thought it might be fun to bring it here and see what knowledgeable folks like @Piney and many others think about his ideas. The vid is not too terribly tedious, and lasts about 8 minutes. It has me wondering if it could be true, but I do not know. Thanks for watching and taking the time :) 

 

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fixed it, didn't know I could so nvm :D whew..... I need a drink now....

Edited by Not A Rockstar
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  • The title was changed to Poverty Point, Louisiana, USA

His idea that the government is trying to hide something is fairly immature and makes him sound like a wing nut, but some of his interpretations of the site are interesting. I don't know the history or geology of the site so his conclusions about the shifting course of the river could well be correct. There might've been more to the terrassing in ancient times. It's not hard to imagine that this was a major ritual site for the people who lived in that area.

I wouldn't mind visiting this site.

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I think so, too. I cringed from his claims about conspiracies but his ideas about possible floods washing away a lot of it was plausible. I just am not sure if there was a solar worship form up north that early. Thing about the site today is that there is no obvious reason to make it in the semi-circle that it is in. A circle would make more sense, actually.

The "bird".... well far be it from me to counter the official word that it IS a bird, but this is not something you would look at and say "oh, yeah, of course this is a bird shape". I am not sure what the highest mound is for, tbh. There is not a clear and obvious shape for it, which may be due to time and erosion, I mean they say in other vids that it once was over 100 feet tall. 

idk, it was interesting to think about and try to imagine.

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1 hour ago, Not A Rockstar said:

I think so, too. I cringed from his claims about conspiracies but his ideas about possible floods washing away a lot of it was plausible. I just am not sure if there was a solar worship form up north that early. Thing about the site today is that there is no obvious reason to make it in the semi-circle that it is in. A circle would make more sense, actually.

The "bird".... well far be it from me to counter the official word that it IS a bird, but this is not something you would look at and say "oh, yeah, of course this is a bird shape". I am not sure what the highest mound is for, tbh. There is not a clear and obvious shape for it, which may be due to time and erosion, I mean they say in other vids that it once was over 100 feet tall. 

idk, it was interesting to think about and try to imagine.

"Sun temples" is just his speculation, but what is the consensus for the site's purpose? You can't reasonably look at something and decide what it is just because it resembles some feature in Peru. At the same time, primitive man 3,500 years ago was not about to build something that elaborate just because they were bored one weekend. I'm sure it served a higher purpose.

We can never know the "true" purpose of the site (the video guy is big on "true" this and "true" that), but at least there were no references to aliens or Atlantis.

Is this site near you? Have you been there?

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I think you're right NAR, he does have some good information.  Without any other information to draw from, any ideas about the purpose of the ruins are speculative by nature.  In any event, I agree it is certainly worth watching, and would also be interesting to research further.  

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29 minutes ago, kmt_sesh said:

"Sun temples" is just his speculation, but what is the consensus for the site's purpose? You can't reasonably look at something and decide what it is just because it resembles some feature in Peru. At the same time, primitive man 3,500 years ago was not about to build something that elaborate just because they were bored one weekend. I'm sure it served a higher purpose.

We can never know the "true" purpose of the site (the video guy is big on "true" this and "true" that), but at least there were no references to aliens or Atlantis.

Is this site near you? Have you been there?

When I was looking to buy up this way after retiring from the cop shop I almost bought a place barely a mile away as the crow flies, as it happens. I went to it once before it was a Heritage site and in winter, when it was closed (the small shop there) and looked around. It was open then for that sort of adventuring. I need to go back this Fall though when it cools down. 

Truth is they don't KNOW what it was for. They say the ridges were for housing, but no evidence remains it was used for that except that they have found numerous privies up top along them so perhaps this was true and to stay above flooding there. They say the mound was for worship and rites, but again no proof of this. I am not even sure they know which tribe was there. They consider them the "Poverty Point" culture. Original.... if anyone knows I do not see it on any of the vids or references as yet. Most interesting one said that huge mound was built in roughly 90 days!!! So they had a reason and it took roughly 1000 workers plus support folks so this was a good sized group. 

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2 hours ago, kmt_sesh said:

His idea that the government is trying to hide something is fairly immature and makes him sound like a wing nut, but some of his interpretations of the site are interesting. I don't know the history or geology of the site so his conclusions about the shifting course of the river could well be correct. There might've been more to the terrassing in ancient times. It's not hard to imagine that this was a major ritual site for the people who lived in that area.

I wouldn't mind visiting this site.

It was once completely circular. The other half washed away or was destroyed by settlement/ farming. Many projectile points and a certain type of "pot boiler" was made there and since the manufacture of projectile points was made by a specific "Craftsman-Priestly" class at that time ( similar to the Indo-European blacksmith class) I always hypothesized it was the first "Religious-Trade" center. Similar to the major sites of the Hopewell manifestation.

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2 minutes ago, Piney said:

It was once completely circular. The other half washed away or was destroyed by settlement/ farming. Many projectile points and a certain type of "pot boiler" was made there and since the manufacture of projectile points was made by a specific "Craftsman-Priestly" class at that time ( similar to the Indo-European blacksmith class) I always hypothesized it was the first "Religious-Trade" center. Similar to the major sites of the Hopewell manifestation.

Thank you! This is really exciting to hear about. I have read and heard nothing about this pot boiler or projectile manufacture so we already know more than I have found out about it! Do you hazard an idea of the religious form then? Is it even likely that mound was for sun worship?

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Just now, Not A Rockstar said:

Thank you! This is really exciting to hear about. I have read and heard nothing about this pot boiler or projectile manufacture so we already know more than I have found out about it! Do you hazard an idea of the religious form then? Is it even likely that mound was for sun worship?

No, there is no indication of sun worship that I remember. I have to check though. I think the author is guessing by the fact that the chief of the Natchez was called " The Great Sun"

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18 minutes ago, Piney said:

It was once completely circular. The other half washed away or was destroyed by settlement/ farming. Many projectile points and a certain type of "pot boiler" was made there and since the manufacture of projectile points was made by a specific "Craftsman-Priestly" class at that time ( similar to the Indo-European blacksmith class) I always hypothesized it was the first "Religious-Trade" center. Similar to the major sites of the Hopewell manifestation.

I'm n ot familiar with "pot boilers." What are those? Has there ever been any large-scale professional archaeology at the site?

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Just now, kmt_sesh said:

I'm n ot familiar with "pot boilers." What are those? Has there ever been any large-scale professional archaeology at the site?

A team from Smithsonian and Nat Geo back in the 70s. 

They would make little clay balls which would be heated by fire and put into paunch lined clay or soapstone pot  to heat food. Most Archaic people just used chert nodules. But the people of Poverty Point made clay ones in the shape of different things.

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1 minute ago, Piney said:

A team from Smithsonian and Nat Geo back in the 70s. 

They would make little clay balls which would be heated by fire and put into paunch lined clay or soapstone pot  to heat food. Most Archaic people just used chert nodules. But the people of Poverty Point made clay ones in the shape of different things.

Interesting. Thanks.

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@Swede My memory is short and my library is gone. Maybe you have something to contribute. 

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watson brake is older than stonehenge. dont think poverty point is at 1600bc?

 

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Public doesn't have access to Watson. 

Here is an article about it and others and the issues many of these wonderful sites face here. This article may even reveal what happened to the rest of Poverty Point. Freaking tragic. Read it and weep:

http://www.reddingnewsreview.com/newspages/2009newspages/watson_brake_public_091000100.htm

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per Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poverty_Point

"Poverty Point comprises several earthworks and mounds, built between 1650 and 700 BC during the Archaic period in North America, by a group of Native Americans of the Poverty Point culture. The culture extended 100 miles (160 km) across the Mississippi Delta. The original purposes of Poverty Point have not been determined by archaeologists, although they have proposed various possibilities, including that it was a settlement, a trading center, and/or a ceremonial religious complex.

The 910-acre (1.42 sq mi; 3.68 km2) site, which has been described as "the largest and most complex Late Archaic earthwork occupation and ceremonial site yet found in North America"[4] is a registered National Monument. The monument was brought to the attention of archaeologists in the early 20th century, when it was given the name of Poverty Point after a nearby plantation."

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1 hour ago, Not A Rockstar said:

Public doesn't have access to Watson. 

Here is an article about it and others and the issues many of these wonderful sites face here. This article may even reveal what happened to the rest of Poverty Point. Freaking tragic. Read it and weep:

http://www.reddingnewsreview.com/newspages/2009newspages/watson_brake_public_091000100.htm

Yeah....that is a shame.  The owner says, and I quote ""Do you believe the Bible or do you believe in some scientific carbon dating," he asked? "I side with the Bible."

Well, the bible doesn't say anything about the Clovis people, or any people living in North America whatsoever.  Nor does it say anything about the Pleistocene Megafauna which can be shown, and is known to have been hunted by people.  So, his religious bias is keeping the world from properly preserving this ancient place.  

I should also say that no where in the bible does it claim that the Earth is only six thousand years old.  That is a holdover from Bishop Usher's chronology.  In any event, even if one does not accept the dates provided by carbon dating....the fact that humans coexisted here, and hunted the animals of the Pleistocene is documented in several known archaeological sites, not the least of which is the famous La Brea Tar Pits.  

I'm not claiming that these mound builders were the Clovis People, but I'm not saying that they were not either.  FWIW.  

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@Guyver I just hope it keeps the site safe from becoming a highway if nothing else. I mean, what can you do? 

 

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2 minutes ago, Not A Rockstar said:

@Guyver I just hope it keeps the site safe from becoming a highway if nothing else. I mean, what can you do? 

 

Yeah.  I just find the whole thing fascinating.  Our North American history that is.  I mean, people lived through the last ice age.  I watched a documentary on it, Netflix I think....and it's just amazing what people had to go through.  Not only did they have no 7-11's, Wallmart's, or grocery outlets, they had enormous environmental pressures and living to be 35 was prolly a ripe old age.  Yet....people survived....and even thrived here.  To not respect the remnants of what was before us is just BS on a high level.  IMHO.  

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Great thread Rockstar.  A pretty good video in many respects.  Speaking as an engineer, it takes a bit of technology to make a mound last that long.  I think there is ususlly a layer of clay covering the mound near the surface to keep the core from getting waterlogged and slumping.

My dad, long since passed, was a geologist.  He spent the last decade of his working career tracking ancient  river courses in Texas looking for oil.  He used satellite photos ( very pre-Google satellites) as one tool.  Surface features would betray what was buried under them.  Being oil country, I bet Louisiana's universities have some pretty good geology schools. Somebody might be able to help decipher where the river has wandered and any traces left of the rest of the circle.  Even if flattened and spread out, the soil might be slightly different than the base.

34 minutes ago, Guyver said:

To not respect the remnants of what was before us is just BS on a high level.  IMHO.  

Sometimes it is not the federal government conspiring but a local jurisdiction which finds a site inconvenient and does the damage.  Erasing the past removes guilt, keeps Western Culture on its singular pinnacle, and provides more room to farm or build strip malls and apartments. It continues to this day all over the country. It does suck though.

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Yes if you read the link about Watson Break in it is a reference which makes me think it is saying the other side of the Poverty Point got plowed under to remove the threat of the state forcing the family to give up their land. I think that is basically what it says happened. Correct me anyone if I am wrong. Another part supposedly went into a roadway. 

At the end of the day, I guess we need to be glad we have what is left after so long.

Not much else to say about that.

Large thanks to everyone who shared this topic with me today :) I learned a lot.

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10 hours ago, Not A Rockstar said:

In NE Lousiana there is a lesser known World Heritage Site of one of the most amazing archeological locations in North America. It appears to be a massive half circle of ridges to raise housing above flood waters, and also features a huge mound said to be in the shape of a bird. It predates Stonehenge and is believed to have once been a hub for trade throughout the Mississippi River Basin, i.e. all of the central North American region.

Google it and consider a trip there if you are close enough to do it on a vacation. Perfect place to let the kids run wild somewhere and they have a wonderful Ranger program for children to do a work book while there and earn a glittery fun badge for the effort.

The point of this post, however, is about a youtube video I watched in the course of reviewing a lot of them on it. Your first warning is when he claims he is going to teach us the TRUE history of the spot, which our government never will.... *heavy sigh*… (why would anyone repress this if it was true for God's sake???) BUT, he does bring up some points I find curious and if you will please accept that I do not think this guy is some expert and just take what he says as being a hypothesis and speculation at best, I would like some of our experts to weigh in on the possibility that it was, indeed, a northern version of some of the South American complexes we see. My Bs Meter is sitting at 51% as possibly true so I thought it might be fun to bring it here and see what knowledgeable folks like @Piney and many others think about his ideas. The vid is not too terribly tedious, and lasts about 8 minutes. It has me wondering if it could be true, but I do not know. Thanks for watching and taking the time :) 

 

What’s that in the Sky?

Why, it’s a great glowing chainsaw .... ITS THE PINEY SIGNAL!!

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34 minutes ago, Sir Wearer of Hats said:

What’s that in the Sky?

Why, it’s a great glowing chainsaw .... ITS THE PINEY SIGNAL!!

No Zombies yet......but I'm watching......and waiting.......

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