Alchemists of Memory: The Prehistoric Monumental Archaeology of the Southeastern United States
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- Опубліковано 22 лип 2024
- Archaeologists have been studying the monumental earthworks in the eastern woodlands since Thomas Jefferson first tasked a few of his slaves with excavating one in order to determine if they were built by Native Americans or not. Here I very briefly review what we know about the process of monumentality in the Southeast over the course of 6000 years .
I finally caved and made companion Instagram for the channel. Follow for more bite-sized archaeology: / nfosaaen_archaeology
Previous Content:
Poverty Point - • Ancient Monuments and ...
- • WTF are you for??? : T...
Shell Mound Archaic - • Molluscan Necropolis: ...
Pinson Mounds - • The Tower and The Risi...
Swift Creek Pottery - • Ancient Craftswomen of...
Explanation of time periods in North America - • Measuring Archaeologic...
The channel "Ancient Americas" also has a really good Poverty Point video that I'm happy to plug here: • Poverty Point: Archaic...
Sources:
David Anderson & Kenneth Sassaman, 2012
Recent Developments in Southeastern Archaeology: From Colonization to Complexity.
Archaic
David Anderson 2014
Paleoindian and Archaic Periods in North America
In The Cambridge World Prehistory edited by Paul Bahn, Colin Renfrew
Tristram R. Kidder, 2012
Poverty Point. In The Oxford Handbook of North American Archaeology,
edited by Timothy R. Pauketat
Kenneth Sassaman, 2010
The Eastern Archaic, Historicized. AltaMira Press, New York.
William F. Romain, and Norman L. Davis, 2011
Astronomy and Geometry at Poverty Point. Louisiana Archaeology 38
Mark A. Hill, Diana M. Greenlee, and Hector Neff, 2016
Assessing the provenance of Poverty Point copper through LA-ICP-MS
compositional analysis.
Jon L. Gibson, 2007
"Formed from the Earth at That Place": The Material Side of Community at Poverty Point.
Romain, William F. and Norman L. Davis 2011
Astronomy and Geometry at Poverty Point.
Claassen, Cheryl. 2010.
Feasting with Shellfish in the Southern Ohio Valley: Archaic Sacred
Sites and Rituals. University of Tennessee Press, Knoxville.
Woodland Complexity
Robert C. Mainfort, Jr 1988
Middle Woodland Ceremonialism at Pinson Mounds, Tennessee
American Antiquity, vol. 53(1)
Charles H. McNutt 2005
The Pinson Observatory
Southeastern Archaeology vol. 24(2)
Edward R. Henry, Alice P. Wright, Sarah C. Sherwood, Stephen B. Carmody,
Casey R. Barrier, and Christopher Van de Ven. 2020
Beyond Never-Never Land: Integrating LiDAR and Geophysical Surveys at the Johnston Site, Pinson
Mounds State Archaeological Park, Tennessee, USA
Remote Sensing.
Alice P. Wright and Edward R. Henry 2013
Early and Middle Woodland Landscapes of the Southeast
Mississippian
Jera R Davis., John H. Blitz, and Chester P. Walker 2015
Remote Sensing as Community Settlement Analysis at Moundville
Vernon James Knight
1998 Moundville as a Diagrammatic Ceremonial Center. In Archaeology of the Moundville Chiefdom, edited by Vernon J. Knight and Vincas P. Steponaitis, pp. 44-62. Smithsonian Institution Press, Washington, D.C.
30 minutes of Nathanael Fosaaen? Yes please!
Man, this one was an absolute bastard to do. I recorded the whole thing in one really good take, then when I tried transferring it to the computer the file corrupted. I spent 2-3 hours trying to figure out how to repair it, and once I was able to fix it, the audio was out of synch and half of it was missing. I had to re-record it in my room and try to use gaps in my neighbor's kid screaming to get anything usable. You can still hear him in the background here and there, but I lost patience with trying to record the damn thing again.
@@NathanaelFosaaen Yikes! It's a great video nonetheless! Thats why I don't sit in front of the camera. It is impossible for me to get everything right in one take and I would sound like a bumbling buffoon if I didn't edit the heck out of my audio.
It's my own damn fault for ripping off Crawford's style. Still less work than animating though.
Nathanael Fosaaen W
Thanks for your work. Sad you had to re-edit this video. I appreciate your Nordic logo and tattoo. I'm going to assume, "Crawford Style" as in Crawford's, "Wishing you all the best." Is who you're speaking of?
Thank you, Ancient Americas for doing such amazing videos. The one on the Olmecs was so concise-connecting parallels and timelines beautifully. ( I just found your sites today, Feb.11, 2022). Since this video is 11 mons. Old. If you don't see this note? I'll try posting again. I found treasures and am grateful for finding your work. Thank you Ancient Americas for referring Nathanael Fosaaen, skilled, knowledgeable and insightful work. That are making a difference an esoteric level.. Nate ( if I may call you that? You apologized to the length of this 29 min. video? Recently noticed other creators saying the same. It's becoming increasingly difficult to for people to stay focused. . Yet when learning and studying a topic one enjoys/loves. Also speaking from an ADHD perspective this video was long. Also, as a former student of film, theatre and TV production back in the 90's. My professor taught 8 seconds was comfortable length of time for a frame before cutting to next shot, when making a commercial or a short. It's sad I have not seen an 8 second delay in years. Now, I have to apologize for this long post.. I just had some st**ff to say!!! Thank you.
That was wonderful, great presentation.
Let me say 50yrs. ago University of Southwestern Louisiana archeology 101 I guess Professor John Gibson showed us a picture of the little red owl figurine and told us about his summer work there.
You likewise show passion when speaking on your videos so happy I found you and subscribed. I learned a lot today.
I like this format you get to take more time in explaining about the subject you are covering. It’s very interesting many different tribes traveled some distance to have these ceremonies in groups. And they understood the equinoxes even that far back. More advanced than I thought.
Just found you today and I've already binged like 6 videos while "working" from home...tbh, not much work is getting accomplished LOL. Keep up the great work on these videos! Mainstream high school academia needs to catch up.
I love this academic content! There are days when I wish I would have pushed through and not given up on studying archeology
I wish I had too.
I just stumbled across your channel and I'll be watching it all. Thank you
This video is so impressive. You're planning my next road trip for me haha
Enjoyed the longer format, give us more details to ponder. Keep up the excellent work!
I really enjoyed the long scope of this video. I recently got to visit Pinson Mounds and find all this thread of culture and history fascination. Thank you for illuminating it.
Thanks for this excellent video on one of my favorite topics! You’re a natural storyteller but your videos are rich in archaeological detail. I’m thrilled to have found your channel!
Thank you for your videos. I really appreciate what you are doing, and you are doing a great job.
This was very interesting, and thank your presentation. I'm related to the Mohawk people dating back to 1650. I enjoy learning as much as possible.
Just got tuned into your channel. Great subject and something I've been fascinated by since growing up between the city and countryside at my late great great grandfather's farm .. We came across so many things around the hunting grounds but he never allowed us to remove any of it due to his belief he thought would being bad energies .
Me and my friends would camp deep in the forest around a huge array of stones ... Some as big as a bus. We encountered many spirits there but they never harm us.
The farm and several other families' farms are all bought out by development now since 2018.
New Subscriber.
(Former farm was in NE Cabarrus Co NC. )
Thank you 🙏 Your work has lead me into a path I never expected, then I found a mound. Amazing work Sir!
Fascinating, there are mound/platform structures like this throughout Central and South America, didn't realize the extent in eastern North America. Great presentation thanks!
I like where this is going. Thanks for posting and please continue.
More to come for sure.
I grew up about 15 minutes from the Indian Knoll site(s) on the Green River in KY. This is SO fascinating. Thank you for these videos. I absolutely love Native American history.
Love your work... you're a great communicator. Thanks so much
Great presentation. Just subbed. Leading me to explore more of our history
A 70ft tall mound would be a top of tree canopy plus a structure atop the mound would give a unparalleled vantage point for weather and enemy
Very well done Nathanael. I'm loving the longer format!
Thanks. This isn't likely to become the norm any time soon, but when I do have that much to talk about all in one sitting I'm not opposed to longer format stuff.
@@NathanaelFosaaen Sure definitely. If you have any conference lectures that have been recorded it would be cool to see those too. I realize you are busy with important work and personal life (rocking out!) so whatever you can share is greatly appreciated.
Excellent lecture on the timeframe and indications of their culture!
This video popped up in my recommendations, well done sir 😎👍
This is an excellent channel! Subscribed. Thank you and greetings from Sunny Devon in the UK. 🙏🏼🦡
Another excellent, informative, video ..thank you
Looks like a great grading plan to me. Perfect contour lines too so to make that happen is amazing
I enjoy this long form content. Hope you make more! :)
I seem to be settling in the middle around the 15 minute ballpark these days.
That was excellent! Thank you. I live in the SE and I've visited a lot of these sites. You could do deep dive videos into each site and I'd watch it.
A great video, as many of yours are. This one has inspired a long comment from me. Here we go: While I love earthen mounds, and other monuments, my true passion lies with another sort of monument - one that is perhaps even more enigmatic than anything you discussed here. Petroglyph sites. Years ago I began seeking these kinds of sites out around me (southern Illinois) and photographing them. As the years pasted, my skills non invasively photographing these places improved and the number of sites I learned of and visited increased precipitously. I think I can now safely say nobody has seen more glyph sites in Missouri and Illinois than me - especially from within the Cahokian sphere. As I'm sure you know, all glyph sites are sacred and many seem to only have ceremonial uses, while others serve a dual role as also being cemeteries. Two sites in Illinois, in particular, are profoundly special - Millstone Bluff and the Whetstone Shelter.
Millstone is a nicely preserved Mississippian village that was likely settled by either refugee Cahokians or refugee Kincaidians. The bluff is more of a knob and it resembles a conical mound in its form. Some arkies think this is why the refugees picked this spot. It's like a natural Monks Mound. Being natural gives the residents the advantage of saying the gods made this for us. Moreover, it's the central nodal station of worship in a polity of farming communities that surround it for miles. Along its northern edge are 3 distinct but related glyph panels. Local arkies figured out those panels collectively describe the Mississippian cosmos. It's basically a cosomogram. The western panel depicts the Underworld, the middle panel is our world, and the eastern panel is the Upper World. Moreover, the northern edge of the bluff is the easiest way to pass to and from the bottomlands below, so it's thought these glyphs were put here (vs the countless other great looking spots on the knob that are free of carvings) as a public statement.
Whetstone appears to be a naturally occurring winter solstice site whose light display is very suggestive of a union between first man (the rays of the sun) coming into sexual contact with the first woman (a large and deep crevice in the bluff). Indeed, on that solstice, if the sky is clear, the late day light beautifully and colorfully casts onto a northern part of this bluff and sweeps southward before converging into the crevice in a most peculiar and dramatic way. It looks pretty good a few days before and after the solstice, but it is only on the solstice the light penetrates all the way to the back of the crevice. There's at least 100 glyphs at this site, with a particular density clustered around the mouth of the crevice. There's even a large man-made bowl depression we call the throne. It has some great images in it, including two bas relief carvings. To me, what is so unique about this site is it is natural. If you know the Twenhafel site, it's about 3 miles south of there. This whole area was filled with occupation from archaic - Mississippian. Whetstone might have some archaic imagery. Anyway, most every other solstice site in existence is man-made where those people contrived the structures to serve a certain function. They made the openings as such so the light would do something special on whatever solstice the site was intended to celebrate. The indians here would have had to stumble on this site as 30 minute light show was happening and probably lost their minds when they put the display into the context of their belief system! The mega-bluff this site is found on is rife with prehistoric use. It's a fantastical feature and I think it is more than conceivable it ties in to those peoples creation story. I could go on and on about this site and I sure wish I could share photographs. I have some real dandies from here and Millstone.
Missouri has some incredible rock art sites too. In particular are the Bushnell Ceremonial Cave and Picture Cave. Bushnell is only about 3 feet tall, and a nice spring issues from it. Great imagery outside of it and inside to about 50 feet inward. Picture Cave is probably one of the most underrated archaeological sites in North America. 400-500 pictographs - some of which are detailed beyond belief. It's thought to be the origin of the universe to the Osage, and perhaps to the whole Dhegian Sioux speakers. And, it is possible its the genesis of the Braden-styled cult that swept over Cahokia - the cult which led its 1050 florescence.
Interestingly, no glyph sites seem to exist around Cahokia until you get about 20 miles from Monks Mound. There's great bluffs
Fascinating subject and well presented.
This video moved me to look up the only mound I've ever knowingly stood in, Chrysler Enclosure in New Castle, Indiana. It's maybe 30 feet across and just a couple of feet deep. An entranceway across the ditch aligns with the Winter Solstice.
Appreciate this video. Have been searching for info on the mounds in Michigan. subscribed
Awesome, thanks!
Good video, grew up in the Kanawha and Ohio Valleys so had many teachers in the past bring them up in the classroom. A lot more has been learned since those times.
Having stood on Monk’s mound, you all need to go find the local mound and take the kids. Start them early in understanding that the world is more complex and wonderful than the text books say.
Definitely all of mine climbed it pretty Young, really adds to the wonder and awe.
I cannot wait. Should be going within @ 6 mos... ☆
i'm glad i saw your comment on one of jackson crawford's videos. this is incredibly interesting. thanks for sharing your knowledge.
Thanks! I'm not even going to pretend that I'm not completely ripping him off here, but I'm enjoying the project.
@@NathanaelFosaaen you knew a good idea when you saw it!
“We’re not antiquing”. Love it!
Another great video! Loved “ we are not antiquing”.
Your a great archeologist keep up the great work for my indigenous people I am Apache, Yaqui, Navajo, Wixarita, Chichimeca and Sikh
Just discovered the channel! Absolulety love the content you're making! ps how do you mention shell mounds and NOT talk about my beloved Mound Key!?
Great video.facinating
This is great subject material and informative to the uninformed. Clarifies the goal of archeology. Fascinating.
All your videos I've seen are fascinating, thanks. I've seen some amateur videos about dolmens and very large ancient north American structures besides the mounds have seen anything like that? A video about unusual structures or sites would be interesting.
This reminds me of the function of cathedrals and later baroque churches. They were built to impress, to overawe, as magnets to bring people to a particular place. Soil engineering doesn't tend to excite or impress us today as constructions of stone masonry, such as Mayan temples. I'm dazzled but not as dazzled. Thank you for making this video and sharing your knowledge with people outside your field. Informative.
Found you through Hammerson Peters. Thank you for a very informative presentation.
I'm not familiar with Hammerson Peters. Is that another channel?
This is a really excellent video, thanks for taking the time to make it.
It’s really criminal how little-known and under appreciated Native American sites are. I have a degree in history, and I was out of college before I learned about Cahokia (although, in my defense, American history was not my area of focus).
Very impressive video!
#KnowledgeIsPower
I live 4 hours away from Poverty Point, LA! I've always been a History Buff but I had never heard of Poverty Point until about a year ago! Thanks for the info!!!
A great wrong has been set right!
Thank you for sharing this fascinating information. I have only recently started to learn about US archeological sites, had no idea that só many have been identified.
I understand that the desire to leave a permanent, planned mark on the landscape is a very old human desire, and where there are no big stones available people have made earth mounds or wooden palisades.
Unfortunately public awareness is still strongly influenced by the early gentleman/tomb raider/archeologists of the 19th century who totally ignored anything that wasn't built in stone. There is not much stone in the enormous African savannas, for example, so of course that meant they believed that there were no monuments to be found at all except for a Great Zimbabwe here and there probably made by Egyptians anyway...
Kudos to your channel. I'll be back! 😊
I am running around and jumping up and down (in my heart) with excitement over discovering you. I have noticed a lack of new information about N. America. CHEERS! 10421
ua-cam.com/video/fE1r7AAlxEE/v-deo.html
Heres another good discussion
Just found you also. Ty for sharing your knowledge!
I went to monks mound last week, it was amazing!!
Thank you for the information.
I'm glad you enjoyed it!
Thank you for this.
I saw the shell ring at Hilton Head but the little people with me were oddly uninterested in reading the explanatory markers. Thank you very much for filling me in! Cahokia is one of the most fascinating sites and it's wild to think that what must have been at one point one of the most important urban centers of N. America is now largely unknown. I'm guessing had they been built in stone we would talk about the mound sites in the same breath as Tenochtitlan and Machu Picchu. Maybe we should, though.
Huge thanks, I've wanted to catch up on latest research about NA archaeology for a couple yrs now. Nice to hear the current jargon about relative time periods (Archaic, Woodland, etc.,) because jargon tends to evolve over time. I see a lot of vids on your channel that sound intriguing, that's good titling. And yeah, knowledge of our own continent seems very important, so it's sad to think of that fading away. But not shocking, unfortunately.
those time period names have been around for a century. They're not changing any time soon.
@@NathanaelFosaaen Sorry, sometimes I'm absentmindedly thinking on longer timeframes than are really warranted for a given interchange. But yeah...EVERYTHING evolves, given time.
One way to distinguish between actual archeologists and TV hucksters: the former can provide references from credible sources for their information. Also, the former rarely have Netflix shows. Which is a major part of the problem.
Very good !
You are filling in a very important gap of our knowledge of pre-Columbian North America. Thanks.
Grew up half hr from Cahokia, first visit in 3rd grade hooked me.
I actually grew up a half mile down the road from the Garden Creek site in NC you mentioned! There doesn’t seem to be a huge amount of public information available on the site and it seems pretty widely overlooked, unfortunately. It would be cool to see you do a video on it in the future!
Dr. Alice Wright has an entire book about Garden Creek. Very recommended.
Thanks for making your expertise this accessible. Your patience in the comments is very commendable. Possible similarities or contrasts to mounds and middens in Australia's riverlands I've seen is interesting. The transport of exotic items from afar such as here near Yellowstone is fascinating. I've heard material adhering to obsidian from Yellowstone in the eastern woodlands suggest gathering trips were made in one journey??
The Great Salt Road stretched across Americas
ua-cam.com/video/fE1r7AAlxEE/v-deo.html
Great channel man just watched like 5 of your vids. New sub from a brother in metal!
Thank you for sharing your valuable knowledge with us. I have been to several mound structures where I live in South Georgia ( we live 80 miles inland from the Atlantic ) and have also found artifacts from the fields in our area. The Shell mounds found along the coast of Georgia ( Jekyll Island ) are only 4 or so ft., high, so I’m not sure if this may be a “modern “ mound. They are not protected and live oyster beds line the water’s edge. I’d like to know if there was any activity in my area also but am unsure of how to trace or find out about this. Interesting talk. New sub.. ☺️
Hey Nathanael!
Your new sub here! Just jumped from your Hancock critique to this, year old vid! You may answer some of my questions I left a comment on in the Hancock vid right here!
Cheers
Just found you man glad to see someone interested in our own people! I just wonder why there's no interest in South Alabama!! I know where several mounds are , several bead holes are, a wash hole or potery hole . Know alot about this area that is completely ignored!! Ever heard of the grand pupae? If I'm saying or spelling it right sounds more like poo pa ! I was married into a family of pretty bad people (I'm not now and all of them have died off but 3) but I know they used to dirty stuff some stuff I know I wish someone would check on, I know they used to get beads and sell them ,they never would keep them because they said they are cursed. Close to the grand pupae home place there's is mound been farmed for years looks like a step pyramid! I know where a old wagon road was that takes you by the abbey river 3 mounds on side of it. Alot of bad history here to, euffaula al being place where the Indians was gathered and tagged by numbers around their necks , I've actually held a couple of those in my hands. Those bad peole I was referring would even sneak on people's hunting land and dig up mounds ,they actually took a indian and buried him in a 50 gallon drum on their property, from what I understand it's still there and they poured a concrete slab over him and put a shed on it before they sold the property so he wouldn't be found. The old man of that family was very educated in ways of the indians , he called stuff he would find like signs or clues that would lead him other places . He once told me of a place called the beginning or something like that on the Chattahoochee River Alabama side, said it was where the indians first settled when they came from the inner earth. The same spot is where the indians gave a place to the first pilgrim's who cane here said that would be there beging as well. If you travel down the Chattahoochee just past Georgetown Bridge when the river is low you will find old brick kilns in the river you can just see the tops of them if you look up from there that's the point
Love it one of my favorite, as far as I am concerned make them an hour long if you are inclined to do so
Glad you liked it! There aren't many subjects that I'd want to go on about for this long and still be coherent, but this one works.
This is epic thank you
Thanks for discussing the mounds as they are a fascinating and often overlooked feature of native cultures. One probable reason for building up the mounds that you did not seem to consider is utilizing them as defensive positions from outside attack. Notice that the mounds with the river. The river is defensively at your back, allowing for some amount of protection from attack in that direction and giving a usable source of water, very important to people who had very few long term water storage vessels. The mounds are at the front of the defensive arc and are elevated in order to dominate the immediate area. With weapons being very short range, 50 yards or less and even down to spear or knife distances, having the advantage of the high ground is even more important than with modern warfare. Additionally, the ground being smooth is a great aid to foot soldering. After building them they would have most probably dragged downed timber and brush to make a barrier to slow down attackers. Just my opinion after seeing the defensive layout.
People like to bring this up here and there, but honestly the material culture pattern and the landscape use doesn't quite add up for that. (I'm assuming you're talking about Poverty Point specifically here) The social pattern is very "open" and we see lots of movement of people to and from the site from across the eastern part of the continent. If it was defensive there'd be no reason to orient the site to solar alignments. The arcs at Poverty Point had houses built on them. If they were defensive the arcs would be on the outside and the settlement would be in the center where we have a clean plaza instead. I don't think we've ever found evidence of a palisade there either. I've worked on sites that were smack in the middle of really intense regional warfare and the settlement patterning and artifact assemblage is very different from Poverty Point. So yeah while "high ground = good for defense" is true, it doesn't look like that's what the builders had in mind at all. At least not from the data we have available.
All that said: give it a shot! Mine the reports and see if you can build the argument. There's plenty of data out there on Poverty Point. You should also check out George Milner's work. He does a lot on the archaeology of warfare in N America that might be useful to you.
Thank you so much for making this information available. My vision is poor so reading books about it is impossible.
Mound Key in Estero Bay (FL Gulf coast) is an island built primarily of used shells. Its not enormous, yet impressive nonetheless. It even had a canoe marina feature (boat slips). As a local, it's one of my favorite day excursions.
Dates back @ 2000 yrs (Calusa).
@3:00, clean swept flat plazas or placitas similar to the pueblos of New Mexico USA today
Hope you do a video of shell mounds
Are there any theories on the late archaic abandonment? Could there be some drastic environmental changes? Is this contemporary with the Bronze Age collapse in the Middle East? Not suggesting interaction but maybe a global temperature shift or tectonics, ocean current shifts, etc. I love that in the beginning it screams of diplomatic ties with each other’s groups. The offering’s from their specialty of their regions almost as a good faith gift to bind themselves into a common agreement. Fanciful, I know, but it implies diplomacy amongst vast regions. Very important information on human development and cooperation.
Dog is Wolf come to help humanity.
The circle is sacred, so my thought is shell circles were built, not an accident.
Oh, I think it was worth the time to sit and watch. Very much worth it!
" America didn't become important after 1492..." I subscribed today. Thank you
Love the videos man! and yes, 20 to 30 min videos are great! One question I've thought about lately is, Has there ever been any evidence of the use of magnetics in any of these cultures? Do we have naturally occurring magnetic materials in North America?
Not that I'm aware. Iron wasn't really a thing pre-contact, so I don't know what it would be used for.
Mr (Dr?)Fosaaen, nothing like getting rid of that good ole euro-centrism...
Ancient Americas suggested you, and I appreciate that you have taken it upon yourself to disseminate what you are finding in the dirt.
Given that the rediscovery of Mesopotamian, Indian, pre-Hellenic Greece, and such were preceded by
the very obvious rediscovery of ancient Egypt, I suspect that in the next 50-100 years, we are going to be unearthing some amazing artifacts and structures representative of much more widespread cultures on the American continents. You've only just begun, to coin a phrase (sorry for the earworm)
Just so you know, since I subscribed, you have picked 4 more....in 2 hours
(mine was 861)
Welcome aboard! It's not Dr. I love excavating too much to get shackled to the classroom 9 months of the year.
Would you do a video about the mounds near Little Rock in Ar.
You hit the nail on the head when you you said that it's not about the monuments, but the question is why and where. Don't get me wrong...the monuments are as impressive as hell, there was however a lot going on behind the scenes. Please keep up the good work.
"We're not antiquing." Excellent.
Interesting would a comparison of nearby archaic site elevations to see if the total elevations of largest site mounds were consistent for fire box or smoke signals
The elevations vary.
Would enjoy a real conversation with you. A teacher with critical thinking abilities. This topic opens many questions. I'm leaning towards the theory that these cultures were picking up the peices after a cataclysm. The obvious knowledge of math, astronomy, construction skills and so on. Yet there are structures all around the globe that are much much older than these cultures.
Great talk, I'm endlessly fascinated by America's early history and you do a good job of bringing varied and interesting topics .
Question, do ya'll see much in the way of archeological signs of disease's traveling ahead of contact with either Spanish or European people's or animals , causing continent wide pandemics and the destruction of tribes and their organization ? I guess what I'm wondering is if most cities , structures and people's were already gone before early settlers could see or record them ? Maybe by a couple hundred years.
That's a really good question. I've read about this before, but it's been years, so I'm not confident giving a detailed answer. As my videos might have suggested, I mostly deal with the Archaic and Woodland periods, so I'll have to re-visit that literature. I CAN say that it is pretty universally accepted that diseases contracted from European colonizers had devastating consequences to American populations, and may even have extended to the depopulation of the Amazon.
However, and this is a BIG however, it is not the case that when Europeans got here, the place was denuded of human populations. DeSoto's records explicitly talk about the people they encountered as they made their way across the Southeast.
Good question. I might have to do a video exploring this in more detail.
@@NathanaelFosaaen thanks for the reply and your right , you are dealing with things much much earlier than my question. It just got me thinking about missing or abandoned cities. Thanks again
OU and Oklahoma State should be the educational hub for this field of study.
Seems enhancing one's oral history would be a driving force.
I went inside of an Etowah mound on a 3rd. grade field trip..I don't think they let anyone in it hardly anymore..this was in 1978 or so..it was strange seeing a chief in his resting place and feeling as if I was interrupting rest..but I felt being forgiven along with the anger.
So PP mound A is no longer refered to or considered the bird mound?
Have any of these locations actually been Lidored? I truly appreciate your work. I will be watching you from now on.
You mean LiDAR? Yeah for sure.
Are shell mounds the same as shell middens? I live in Maine and we have a couple what we call middens.
Not quite. The difference is in terms of scale. The mounds are much bigger.
Swelled with pride when he said that my local Ocmulgee Mounds National Park is one of the best managed in the nation.
It's won awards for it, and rightfully so. It's a beautiful place.
@@NathanaelFosaaen the natural features of the park are spectacular as well. I’ve seen many species of snake, otters, and even a bobcat there once. I love you videos. Can’t wait to see what you discuss next!
Poverty Point reminds me of Goebekli Tepe. A hunter-gatherers society actually gathered to build great circular monument.
one video said the aisles at Poverty Point point towards major river crossings. cool place I'd love to go see it sometime
Goebekli Tepe was much older (12,000 years) and was far more sophisticated in its construction.
@@richb2229 I know. still, the resemblance is there.
so what's it mean is like the sun and the moon are always opposite of each other?
Thank you. Im sure a leader would have the inkling to be surrounded by everyone a few times a year say when the main source of light reaches an measurable apex. To witness a special moment to worship their king or sacrifice.
You didn't mention Moundsville WV (or did I miss it?) Also 70 foot tall
I thought those stepped crescents were for agriculture. I heard about the other ancient american sites of the same shape around the South East coast. Are they really massive stadiums for viewing something?
The houses were built on the ridges. When the river flooded yearly, your house is high and dry.
great!
Poverty Point being a settlement with goods coming in from all over and not going out, could it be that it was a place for smaller nomadic bands to come and trade items for women, prehistoric mail order brides?
Where did the soil come from for the mounds? Are they removing topsoil? Leveling ground? Widening a creek bank or gentleing a slope to and from a creek crossing? Are there no trenches associated with mounds?
Which ones?
@@NathanaelFosaaen
Well, I guess all of them. Moving earth is "Take and Put". The "Put" part results in a mound or mounds. We're educating our guesses about why. Spiritual? Ritual? Islands during floods? Sport? Land mark? Communication? Fun? The unknown...
The "Take" part results in some feature or features.
Removing topsoil is easiest, in my experience, and greatly effects near future vegetation. "Sod busters" achieved plantable plots and usable shelter.
Digging a well is the most difficult and could result is in two long lasting features.
Seems to me, if the volume of the "put feature" (the mounds) equals that of the "take features" (trenches, ditches, pits, slopes to low water crossing; things we move earth for), we have cause and effect, cost and benefit. It all results in a monument to the effort.
But, if the mounds have significantly greater volume than discernable "take" features, the mound is likely to be (or became) The purpose. It's a monument to something.
Y'all are "dissecting" the mounds. Do they appear to be, from beginning to end, the planned feature? Or may they be an artifact of the site's "take" features that had day to day worth?
I personally know stock tank dams get repurposed as slides for cardboard sleds.
There was probably a way to source the correct type of soil for durable mound construction. Like they weren't just using random soil types willy-nilly.
The evidence left from soil removal such as scars, low spots, etc. could have easily become lost/obscured over time.
Love your videos. A young man of your expertise is amazing.
I live in Ft Walton Bch FL & we have a site in downtown called " The Indian Mound Museum ". Here I am a man of almost 75 yrs & have never visited. It is a documented shell mound site. Because of you I am going to see it as I've always put off since I was a kid. I was wondering if you've ever explored it and whether you would want me to send you photos of this site ? I would need your email address to do so & I know you would greatly appreciate it.
Region wide collapse around 3000 years ago (end Archaic to Woodland) seems similar to the region wide "Late Bronze Age" collapse about the same time (Late Bronze Age to Iron Age) in the eastern Mediterranean, associated with the upheavals of the Trojan War, Sea Peoples ravaging the Hittites, Levant & Egypt, Biblical Exodus Migration from Egypt to Canaan, so on. The Greek "Dark Ages" lasting for the next few centuries also parallels the prolonged lack of Woodlands trade networks for centuries. A global climate event would obviously affect both hemispheres of the same planet, at the same time, and so could perhaps account for superficially parallel chronologies?
wow. 2 months! how many people would that take? 6:16