America’s first civilization did not oppose politics

It is often assumed that poachers and collectors do not like government positions and the negotiations associated with them. But an archeological site in Louisiana tells a different story.

Native Americans who lived in northern Louisiana 3,000 years ago were considered simple hunters. They would wander in small groups as nomads and wander for food. But re-examined archaeological finds paint a surprisingly different picture of America’s first civilization.

Pottery
We see the Point of Poverty in Louisiana, which is an interesting archaeological site with a collection of prehistoric landscapes. Scientists are amazed at how well these monumental pottery has withstood the test of time. “One of the most remarkable things is that these earthworks have been around for over 3,000 years,” said researcher Tristram Guitar. “It’s without any signs of erosion or collapse. In comparison, modern bridges, highways and dams fail with surprising order because it’s more complicated to build structures like you think.

Beyond the poverty point
Poverty Point has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 2014 — with huge, meter-high mountains and dense semi-elliptical ridges spread over an area of ​​about three square kilometers. These changes in the landscape were made by hunters and collectors about 3,400 years ago. Surprisingly, this was done without modern tools, pets or even wheelbarrows. Like modern Mecca, the Point of Poverty may be an important religious site for Native Americans on pilgrimage. The site was abruptly abandoned 3,000-3,200 years ago — most likely due to flooding and climate change in the Mississippi Valley.

In a new study, researchers looked at imposing pottery using a variety of research methods. And this leads to an interesting conclusion. Researchers believe the earthworks were completed surprisingly quickly. So they think Native Americans may have built in a few months or even a few weeks. The researchers found no signs of weather, which would have been the case if the builders had taken even a small break.

Politics
According to Guitar, these findings challenge previous notions of how early hunters and collectors behaved. It will take a lot of people to build enormous terrain at the point of poverty and they must have worked in a well-organized manner. Also, it requires good leadership to implement. It means that Indians should know some kind of political system. It was assumed that the hunters and collectors did not like the management layers and the negotiations associated with them.

“Drilling, the speed of construction and the amount of soil moved show the tribal people coming to the site and working together,” Guitar said. “This is significant because the hunters were not supposed to be like that.”

Engineers
After the researchers study the soil work again, they can actually only make a decision. And the builders must have been very talented engineers. Contrary to the simplicity of life sometimes outlined in anthropology books, the aboriginal people were considerably more intelligent. For example, they had the ability to create particularly solid earthenware that would remain intact for thousands of years. In addition, because of its proximity to the Gulf of Mexico, the Poverty Point continues to experience heavy rainfall, making soil work particularly prone to erosion. Nevertheless, the earthen structures seem to have caught on boldly, testifying to the exceptional building ability of the Indians. “They are truly incredible engineers with the most advanced technical knowledge,” Guitar insists.

Microscopic analysis of the soil shows that Native Americans mix different types of soil – clay, sediment and sand – to strengthen the structures in a calculated recipe. “Like Roman concrete or rubble earth in China, Native Americans found sophisticated ways to make structures that could mix a wide variety of materials almost indestructible,” Guiter said. “There is a magic that is still not understood by modern engineers.”