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Period: 3900 BCE to 3600 BCE
Lower Jackson Mound is Constructed
During this period an even older culture constructed the Lower Jackson Mound in a single effort similar to how Mound A is eventually built. The same ancient predecessor potentially built the Motley Mound as well, although Motley's dates and cultural affiliations are unknown its placement makes this a strong possibility. Similar to the Coles Creek Culture even later, the Poverty Point builders co-opt the Lower Jackson Mound and structure Poverty Point around it. -
Period: 1800 BCE to 1200 BCE
First Wave of Poverty Point Construction
The earliest signs of construction begin to appear at Poverty Point. Likely, the Lower Jackson Mound was already a well-known local landmark along the river and the Poverty Point Culture wanted to build a modern structure with the older landmark attached. The mound constructions are built as individual projects, but the concentric rings, dock, and main plaza are expanded and refined over the course of centuries. Houses for these people likely spread through the rings and along river's edge. -
1700 BCE
Construction of Mound B begins.
Mound B is completed in separate stages starting at roughly this point. Evidence indicates it was the first of the major earthworks constructed at Poverty Point. It was conical in shape and located northeast of the rings and plaza. Compared to Mound A, there is evidence of erosion implying that construction took place over an extended period of time. There are postholes and charcoal pits now buried within the mound where buildings would have covered its surface during the phases of construction. -
Period: 1700 BCE to 1200 BCE
Mound C is Shaped Over Centuries
The only mound located within the rings, it has layers with radiocarbon dates covering the whole range of Poverty Point's original occupation. Mound C was likely shaped alongside the plaza itself a task which was carried out over centuries likely spurred by necessity and demand. The dates of its innermost layers suggest it was one of the first earthworks made by the Poverty Point Culture alongside Mound B and the plaza itself. -
Period: 1600 BCE to 1300 BCE
The Poverty Point Rings are Constructed
The six concentric semicircular rings are constructed around the main plaza. They are divided by ditches running concentrically between each mound as well as four aisles dividing them and leading to the larger mounds. In the ditches and atop the mounds people likely built mud daub structures indicated by postholes found by archaeologists. These rings were likely completed in phases alongside the main plaza which were developed over a longer period of time while the larger mounds were also built. -
1500 BCE
Construction begins on the Ballcourt Mound
Given this nickname for its resemblance to a modern basketball court this structure does not actually hold any evidence of being used for ball games. Researchers also labeled it Mound E. Charcoal remnants at the base of the mound date to this time suggesting that construction began at roughly this point. It is a flattened mound with a ramp on the northeastern corner located south of Bird Mound. -
Period: 1450 BCE to 1250 BCE
Bird Mound is Constructed
Also known as Mound A. The best estimation from radiocarbon dating indicates that the area at the base of Bird Mound was burned to clear vegetation at this time. Following that the mound is built rapidly on the cleared area, likely in three months or less. This is indicated by the absence of any signs of erosion affecting the inner layers of mound before they were covered with more packed dirt. Bird Mound is the second largest earthwork monument in North America surpassed only by Monks Mound. -
1280 BCE
Construction begins on Mound F
Charcoal samples from the base of this small mound on the northeastern edge of city suggest construction began at roughly this time. It was the last of Poverty Point Culture's earthwork monuments. It was only discovered in 2013 and has no other names. It is only about five feet tall but a hundred by eighty feet at its base. -
800 BCE
The Mississippi River Outflow Shifts
The best estimates from the geological record indicate that the Mississippi River begins its slow shift eastward at this time. This would begin to form Bayou Macon and potentially draining the lake that may have once sat at the end of Poverty Point's earthwork dock and connecting it more directly to the river. This is one of the speculative reasons that the monuments may have been abandoned and new construction ceased. -
Period: 720 to 1200
Coles Creek Culture construct Sarah's Mound
The Coles Creek Culture, nearly two millennium after the abandonment of Poverty Point, build the structure also known as Mound D on top of a Poverty Point ridge. This is very reminiscent of how Poverty Point incorporated the Lower Jackson Mound into their city earlier. At an even later date Sarah Guier, wife of Poverty Point Plantations owner, is buried atop the mound. -
Period: 900 to 955
Monks Mound is Built in Cahokia
Over the course of a few decades of construction, Bird Mound is finally surpassed in size by these earthwork monuments in Cahokia. Repairs to the massive structure to prevent slumping are routinely performed over the next three centuries. Monks Mound was built by people we now call the Mississippian Culture in modern day Illinois. -
Modern Rediscovery
Jacob Walter describes the site as a prehistoric indigenous village with many stone and clay artifacts scattered about while prospecting for lead in the area. At the time the plantation was in operation and the site's presence was not recognized by the owners, the rings had been mistaken for hills and were leveled and plowed in many areas. The full scope of the city was not visible from the ground level and interest didn't take the archaeological community until aerial photos were circulated. -
Modern Excavations Begin
Archaeologists begin small investigations of the site as early as 1913 and eventually James A. Ford and Clarence Webb perform a series of excavations at the site in 1952, 1953, and 1955. Following the rediscovery of aerial photographs from the 1930s, academic interest in the site's significance was piqued. Early digs revealed many artifacts, but the site's significance has only grown over the following decades as modern technology and new digs reveal more about the ancient city to this day.