The Ancient Mounds of Poverty Point: Place of Rings (Native Peoples, Cultures, and Places of the Southeastern United States)

There is NO index. Really? No non-fiction book should exist without a good index. Aside from that, the presentation and scope is great. Incredibly interesting. A wonderful resource that gathers together prevailing scholarship.

Excellent book, technical to read., but not difficult to understand. We live close to Poverty Point and were there when it was first opened to the public, so this is perfect for us to another trip there. It doesn't read like a novel, but is it isn't supposed to. Can't wait to visit again and take this book with us. If you live too far, this book would be good for a Poverty Point computer trip.

Very informative book. Enjoyed the pictures as well. Plan on a visit to the area and now know what to expect.

A very detailed history of an interesting location

Poverty Point in Louisiana is the grand-daddy of all Indian mounds in the US. Built in the shape of a amphitheater on a low ridge overlooking the swamps of the Mississippi River, Poverty Point is 3,500 years old. Author Gibson, an archaelogist, gives us a vivid, speculative picture of the people who built Poverty PointYou can skip the first two chapters which cover the history of theories about Poverty Point. Chapter Three begins the description of the place. Gibson goes through chapters about who lived at Poverty Point, their economy, politics, religion, equipment, and how they built the massive earthworks -- which consist of six concentric half-moon rings spread over a square kilometer of ground -- an enormous undertaking. It wasn't the first mound built in the United States -- but it was far larger than any previous structures.The Poverty Point people, in Gibson's view, were pre-agricultural hunters and gatherers which makes their achievement even more remarkable. They lacked stones, so rocks for spearheads and other tools were imported from hundreds of miles away. What did they exchange for the rocks? Gibson doesn't know. That's an unanswered question. What did they eat? Gibson says mainly fish from the lakes and bayous nearly surrounding the place. Was Poverty Point only a ceremonial site? If not how many people lived there? Gibson calls it a residential site but doesn't believe it was large enough to be called a city.This book blends archaelogical findings with ethnology, common sense and, frankly, guesswork -- but guesses by an expert on the subject. As the oldest major Indian ruin in the United States, Poverty Point has a mystical significance similar in my mind to Stonehenge.Smallchief

This is not my field at all, but I was captivated by this well-written, thoughtful, imaginative account of the people who built Poverty Point sometime between 1750 and 1350 B.C. The author has obviously spent his entire professional life studying the culture, and his theories, based on available archeological evidence, are compelling. Definitely worth checking out!!!