- Over 5,000 years ago, long before
Stonehenge
was completed or the pyramids of
Egypt
were built, Native Americans were building communities in northeast
Louisiana
. These villages were centered around mounds, which can still be found
throughout the region.
Origins is a series of
discussions by ULM faculty and others who are experts in prehistoric
culture, history, and environment.Their presentations will provide an in
depth look at the mound builders of northeast Louisiana.
The origin of mound
building in
North America
apparently began in northeast
Louisiana
. The
Ouachita
Valley
provided an abundance of resources capable of supporting Native American
cultures. The prehistoric economies appeared to be focused principally
on fish, mussel, snails, and amphibians, supplemented with waterfowl,
deer, small mammals, as well as mast crops and native grasses.
The ULM Origins Series
opened on Monday September 27 with a presentation by Kelby Ouchley on
the natural habitat of the
Ouachita
Valley
. His observations on the flora and fauna of wetland areas described how
this rich and diverse environment nurtured the efforts of the early
mound builders and sustained the later cultures’ tradition of
constructing monumental earthworks. The session held at the Nursing
Building Auditorium was attended by over 200 people.
The second session in
the Origins series will be held on October 14 and will feature Joe
Saunders who will discuss the first mound builders. Before the Great
Pyramids of Egypt were built, before the work at
Stonehenge
was completed, and long before the last basket of dirt was scattered on
a ridge at Poverty Point, Native Americans were building earthen mounds
in the
Ouachita
Valley
. At least seven Middle Archaic (>5000 years ago) mound sites have
been identified. Gradually, archeologists are beginning to piece
together the architecture, economy, and society of the first builders.
The fall session will
close on November 18 with a presentation by Jon Gibson on the History of
Poverty Point: The Emergence of the Tamaroha. Seventeen centuries before
the birth of Christ, Poverty Point people, the Tamaroha, constructed a
massive, cosmically imbued complex of mounds and embankments in upper
northeastern
Louisiana
. How the Tamaroha managed the feat and how they came to be the way they
were are examined.
All sessions are held
at
7:15 p.m.
at the
Nursing
Building
auditorium. All presentations are free and open to the public. For more
information call Joe Mc Gahan at 342-1338.
