If you are looking to explore all of the amazing history and treasure that Louisiana has to offer, then you should schedule a trip to Poverty Point State Historic Site. In 2014, this amazing archaeological site received the prestigious UNESCO World Heritage site designation, making it an even more fantastic place to spend an afternoon. Here’s what you need to know:

Poverty Point became a UNESCO world heritage site in 2014.
Wikicommons / Billy Hathorn
It received this honor for the 3,400-year-old mounds that were once home to a trading hub and monument to ingenuity that was known throughout the area in ancient times.
This is a map of the site, which is found in Pioneer, LA.
Wikicommons / Maximilian Dorrbecker
West Carroll parish is the home of this site, that is located on 6859 La. Hwy 577. There are a variety of hotels and state parks to stay in as you explore this amazing place.
Many people don't realize that Poverty Point was built at the same time as Stonehenge and the Ancient Egyptian empire of Queen Nefertiti.
Facebook.com / Poverty Point World Heritage Site
At the time of their construction, the earthworks at Poverty Point were the largest construction in North America. It continued to be the largest earthen mound for 1,000 years after its construction.
Many mysteries still remain about how these ancient peoples managed to build these earthworks.
Flickr.com / Michael Homan
Mound A at Poverty Point Historic Park was built to mimic the shape of a bird, with the south wing to the left, the north wing to the right, and the bird's body in the center.
Archaeologists believe that the site was abandoned around 1100 B.C.
Facebook.com /Poverty Point World Heritage Site
They are still uncertain why this happened. Around A.D. 700, another mound was added to the site, and humans were in an out of the area until the 1800s, when Euroamericans began building settlements here.
Archaeologists have been studying this area for decades--but still only about 1-5% of the site has been fully excavated.
Facebook.com / Poverty Point World Heritage Site
This is because Poverty Point is dense with ancient artifacts that require careful attention.

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Tons of arrowheads and other tools have been discovered here.
The site is considered to be primarily a trading hub, as rocks and minerals from as far as 800 miles away have been recovered here.
No evidence of domesticated agriculture has been discovered at Poverty Point.
Louisiana Travel
This suggests that hunting and gathering were the central ways people survived here.
The pottery found here was quite advanced for the time.
Louisiana Travel
These intricate owl designs are a distinctive feature of the pottery here.
These female effegy clay objects could have been used for ceremonial purposes.
Wikicommons / Heironymous Rowe
The people of poverty point where the first in the Lower Mississippi Valley to make earthen vessels.
You can visit the Archaeology Museum at the state historic site to learn more.
Wikicommons / Michael Homan
The exhibits here are always expanding and you can check the website, povertypoint.us, to find out about upcoming events.
Walking the mounds here will be an amazing trip to take with your family.
Wikicommons / Billy Hathorn
The mounds were built over a 600 year period, with more than 25 generations of peoples on the land.
The mounds suggest that hundreds of people lived together in this place, making it one of the oldest villages in North America.
Facebook.com /Poverty Point World Heritage Site
How is that for history in our great state of Louisiana?

Have you ever visited the UNESCO World Heritage site, Poverty Point? What was your experience there like? We love to hear your stories about this amazing place! Let us know about it!

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