Seth B . Grooms
Appalachian State University, Anthropology, Faculty Member
- Geoarchaeology, Native American Studies, Indigenous Archaeololgy, Landscape Archaeology, Anthropological Archaeology, Place Making, and 7 moreEarthen Architecture, Archaeology of Southeastern United States, Late Archaic Archaeology, Poverty Point, Hunter-Gatherer Archaeology, Community-based archaeology, and NAGPRAedit
This report presents results of re-excavation and reanalysis of unit 5276N 4790E, located on Ridge West 3 (RW3) at the Poverty Point site. Jon Gibson excavated this unit and others in 1991 and argued that RW3 was constructed rapidly. We... more
This report presents results of re-excavation and reanalysis of unit 5276N 4790E, located on Ridge
West 3 (RW3) at the Poverty Point site. Jon Gibson excavated this unit and others in 1991 and
argued that RW3 was constructed rapidly. We test the fast construction hypothesis by applying
new methods (micromorphology, magnetic susceptibility, sequential loss-on-ignition) and by
obtaining new radiocarbon dates. Before construction, the ground surface beneath RW3 was
cleared and occupied. Preconstruction deposits are composed of anthropogenically enriched
sediments. RW3 was constructed in layers of mixed heterogeneous natural and
anthropogenically enriched sediments. The surfaces of these layers were used briefly during
construction. The goal of the builders was to quickly raise the ridge to its full height. Magnetic
susceptibility measurements and artifact density data show that the top of the constructed
ridge is buried 10 to 30 cm below the modern surface. The construction of this section of RW3
was exceptionally rapid. The ridge was built after 3355–3210 cal BP and was under construction
by at least 3450–2975 cal BP. Analysis of existing excavations offers great opportunity for
pursuing vital research questions while having a limited effect on the integrity of archaeological
deposits at Poverty Point.
West 3 (RW3) at the Poverty Point site. Jon Gibson excavated this unit and others in 1991 and
argued that RW3 was constructed rapidly. We test the fast construction hypothesis by applying
new methods (micromorphology, magnetic susceptibility, sequential loss-on-ignition) and by
obtaining new radiocarbon dates. Before construction, the ground surface beneath RW3 was
cleared and occupied. Preconstruction deposits are composed of anthropogenically enriched
sediments. RW3 was constructed in layers of mixed heterogeneous natural and
anthropogenically enriched sediments. The surfaces of these layers were used briefly during
construction. The goal of the builders was to quickly raise the ridge to its full height. Magnetic
susceptibility measurements and artifact density data show that the top of the constructed
ridge is buried 10 to 30 cm below the modern surface. The construction of this section of RW3
was exceptionally rapid. The ridge was built after 3355–3210 cal BP and was under construction
by at least 3450–2975 cal BP. Analysis of existing excavations offers great opportunity for
pursuing vital research questions while having a limited effect on the integrity of archaeological
deposits at Poverty Point.
Research Interests:
Recent research at Jaketown, a Late Archaic earthwork site in the Lower Mississippi Valley, suggests that the culture-historical framework used to interpret Jaketown and contemporary sites in the region obscures differences in practices... more
Recent research at Jaketown, a Late Archaic earthwork site in the Lower Mississippi Valley, suggests that the culture-historical framework used to interpret Jaketown and contemporary sites in the region obscures differences in practices across sites. As an alternative, we propose a framework focused on variation in material culture, architecture, and foodways between Jaketown and Poverty Point, the regional type site. Our analysis indicates that people used Poverty Point Objects and imported lithics at Jaketown by 4525–4100 cal BP—earlier than elsewhere in the region. By 3450–3350 cal BP, people intensively occupied Jaketown, harvesting a consistent suite of wild plants. Between 3445 and 3270 cal BP, prior to the apex of earthwork construction at Poverty Point, the community at Jaketown built at least two earthworks and multiple post structures before catastrophic flooding sometime after 3300 cal BP buried the Late Archaic landscape under alluvium. These new data lead us to conclude...
Research Interests:
The distribution of mounds, plazas, and defensive palisades associated with Cahokia Mounds State Historic Site (CMSHS) defines the core urban environment of Eastern North America’s first American Indian city. The large mounds surrounding... more
The distribution of mounds, plazas, and defensive palisades associated with Cahokia Mounds State Historic Site (CMSHS) defines the core urban environment of Eastern North America’s first American Indian city. The large mounds surrounding Cahokia’s centrally located Grand Plaza, including the palisades that enclose them, are referred to as Downtown Cahokia. In this portion of the site, archaeologists have identified material culture (e.g., ceramics), earthen fills to level the plaza, and several earthen mound constructions. These findings suggest an occupational history for the area that occurred over the 9th–14th centuries CE, with the emergence of plaza delineation and earthwork construction beginning in the early 11th century CE. In sum, Downtown Cahokia and its Grand Plaza are considered by archaeologists to be a vibrant space characterized by ongoing American Indian transformations to an early metropolitan landscape. We conducted magnetometer and electromagnetic induction surveys at the western edge of the Grand Plaza. When compared with the LiDAR-derived visualizations we generated from this portion of the site, our aerial and terrestrial remote sensing data offered new information on the nature and sequence of monument construction in Downtown Cahokia, as well as architectural changes in domestic and special-use structures. These multi-scalar and complementary remote sensing datasets allowed us, without excavating, to trace important sequences of change in Downtown Cahokia’s history.
Keywords: Cahokia Mounds; USA; landscape archaeology; historic aerial photographs; LiDAR; magnetic gradiometry; electromagnetic induction
Keywords: Cahokia Mounds; USA; landscape archaeology; historic aerial photographs; LiDAR; magnetic gradiometry; electromagnetic induction
Research Interests: Geophysics, Aerial Archaeology, Landscape Archaeology, LiDAR, Archaeological geophysics (Archaeology), and 15 moreNorth American archaeology, Southeastern Archaeology (Archaeology in North America), Remote sensing and GIS applications in Landscape Research, Archaeological Geophysics, Exploration Geophysics, Near surface Geophysics, Geophysical Survey, Aerial Photographic Interpretation, Applied Geophysics, Aerial Photography, LiDAR for Landscape Archaeology, Magnetometry, Cahokia Mounds, LiDAR for Archaeology, and Archeological Prospection, Magnetometry
This paper considers the importance of earthen mounds in past and present Native cosmologies in the context of Archaic mounds built by hunter-gatherers in modern-day Mississippi.