Poverty Point Objects- Poverty Point, LA
Photo by Jenny Ellerbe
Institution: Louisiana Office of Cultural Development
State: Louisiana
Object: Cooking Stones
Era: Archaic Period
Poverty Point Objects (or “PPO’s”) are labeled to signify their abundance at the Poverty Point archaeological site and for the fact that researchers are still uncertain about their function.
Poverty Point is one of the earliest mound building sites in Northeast Louisiana, well before Hopewell and Cahokia. Based on archaeological evidence, the mounds functioned as living spaces, burials, and other specialized activities that involved thousands of hand-made stones.
Archaeologists refer to these small, artificial stones as “Poverty Point Objects”, but they are also found at other sites throughout the Lower Mississippi Valley. PPO’s are made of a mix of silt, clay and sand, but composition and decoration vary between satellite sites. At least six types of PPO styles were recovered at Poverty Point, suggesting the site was a central point of exchange.
Most researchers have concluded that Poverty Point Objects were used as cooking stones, possibly as an alternative to using natural rocks for heating. There have also been experiments suggesting that the PPO shapes determined their heating quality. But not all PPOs are found in these contexts.
Other researchers consider their variety and distribution as a clue into something more symbolic. Poverty Point may have functioned as a pilgrimage center with people bringing specific shaped stones to represent their origins. It also suggested that the PPOs used for cooking may have been related to large, ritual feasts.
More Archaic Period Artifacts
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