Before Poverty Point

Before Poverty Point. . , Clovis and other spear point types typical of the Paleoindian period are found at Poverty Point and at other sites on Macon Ridge. They are scattered, as if the people were highly mobile, only stopping briefly as they moved across the landscape. Once thought of as big game hunters, Paleoindians are now believed to have been hunter-gatherers who used a variety of foods. , During the Early and Middle Archaic periods, people were "settling in" to their environment. They moved less frequently, often returning to the same sites on a seasonal basis. Their tool kits became more complex, as they added tools to perform a greater number of special tasks. Decorative items like drilled polished stone beads made their first appearance. , The Middle Archaic period is also known for the first earthen constructions. Lower Jackson Mound (south of Poverty Point), the LSU Campus mounds, and the famous Watson Brake earthwork complex are Middle Archaic mounds that were built long before Poverty Point. , It would be natural to think that Poverty Point is the magnificent outcome of millenia of continuous moundbuilding practice. However, people had stopped building mounds about 1,000 years before they restarted with Poverty Point's Mound B.