Poverty Point: A National Treasure

My impression of Poverty Point: Educational, charming, well-maintained, nice employees

Located in northeastern Louisiana, Poverty Point is what is left of a culture that thrived during the 2000 years before Christ. Today this 400 acre site, which contains some of the largest prehistoric earth works in North America, is maintained by the Louisiana Parks system.

The earthworks are numerous, but Poverty Point is famous for its huge bird shaped mound. The Indians that lived here cooperated in bringing thousands upon thousands of pounds of dirt to the site to construct a large recplica of a bird in flight. The site tour includes a walk to the top of the bird.

The other earthworks include semi-circular mounds upon which the Indians built their homes and lived in a city-like environment. The area is impressive to see from a bird's eye view.

The mounds are located near a river which the Indians used for fishing. The area is also rich in berries and wildlife which provided variety for the culture's cuisine.

Cost to visit: School groups are free and persons under 12 or over 61 are free. Others pay $2.00 a person.

Location and directions:: Near Epps, Louisiana. Take the Delhi exit off I-20 in Northeast Louisiana. Go north on Louisiana 17 for 11 miles to Epps. In Epps turn right on Louisiana 134. Its not far too Hwy. 577 where you turn left again and find Poverty Point.

Phone: (318) 926-5492

My Day at Poverty Point

I went to Poverty Point as a chaperone of a student group. We had a great day, adults and students alike! The facilities include a museum, the mounds, an observation tower and a picnic area.

The museum is small, but modern, with very nice displays of artifacts from this impressive civilization. Visitors go in guided groups through the grounds and the information provided by the guides is very informative. Not only do they describe the mounds and what the "city" was like thousands of years ago, but they demonstrate the unique cooking, jewelry making, fishing and hunting techniques of the people of this ancient culture. It is very moving to walk the same paths that were used by persons in this dead civilization.

I was most interested in their cooking techniques. Louisiana is known for its mud and the Indians who lived here developed a science using dried mud balls in different shapes for baking. Mud was used for form rectangular pieces or small balls with varying diameters. When different shaped mud balls were heated, like charcoal, they would maintain different temperatures, like we might set a oven at 250° or 450°. What a wonderful application for today if we could replicate their "technology" for backyard cooking or camping.

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