Marsden Mounds ( 16 RI 3) is an

archaeological site An archaeological site is a place (or group of physical sites) in which evidence of past activity is preserved (either prehistoric or recorded history, historic or contemporary), and which has been, or may be, investigated using the discipline ...

with components from the

Poverty Point culture The Poverty Point culture is the archaeological culture of a prehistoric indigenous peoples who inhabited a portion of North America's lower Mississippi Valley and surrounding Gulf coast from about 1730 – 1350 BC. Archeologists have identified ...

(1500 BCE) and the Troyville- Coles Creek period (400 to 1200 CE). It is located in

Richland Parish, Louisiana Richland Parish is a List of parishes in Louisiana, parish located in the North Louisiana Delta Country in the U.S. state of Louisiana, known for its fertile, flat farmland, cane brakes, and open spaces. The parish had a population of 20,043 at ...

, near

Delhi Delhi, officially the National Capital Territory (NCT) of Delhi, is a city and a union territory of India containing New Delhi, the capital of India. Straddling the Yamuna river, but spread chiefly to the west, or beyond its Bank (geography ...

. It was added to the

NRHP The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of sites, buildings, structures, districts, and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic ...

on August 4, 2004, as NRIS number 04000803. It is the

type site In archaeology, a type site (American English) or type-site (British English) is the site used to define a particular archaeological culture or other typological unit, which is often named after it. For example, discoveries at La Tène and H ...

for the ''Marsden Phase (500-600 CE)'' of the Tensas Basin and Natchez Bluff regions local chronology.

Site description

The earthworks at the site include a group of five

platform mound A platform mound is any earthwork or mound intended to support a structure or activity. It typically refers to a flat-topped mound, whose sides may be pyramidal. In Eastern North America The indigenous peoples of North America built substru ...

s and two portions of an earthen embankment. Mounds A, B, C and D (which are between and in height) are located along the eastern edge of Maçon Ridge with a section of the embankment connecting three of them. The largest mound at the site, Mound E, measures in height, with the base being by and a summit of by . It and another portion of embankment are located across a large

plaza A town square (or public square, urban square, city square or simply square), also called a plaza or piazza, is an open public space commonly found in the heart of a traditional town or city, and which is used for community gatherings. Rela ...

to the southwest of the other mounds. During investigations at the site, artifacts from the Poverty Point culture were found under some of the mounds, showing that people occupied this at least as early as 1500 BC during the Archaic period. Radiocarbon dating of charcoal samples from one of the smaller mounds have been dated 400 and 1200 CE, during the Late Woodland Troyville-Coles Creek period. The site is part of the Poverty Point Reservoir State Park. It is open to the public and accessible by foot.

References

External links

Marsden Mounds - Louisiana Historical Markers on Waymarking.com

{{National Register of Historic Places Archaeological sites on the National Register of Historic Places in Louisiana Poverty Point culture Troyville culture Archaeological sites of the Coles Creek culture Mounds in Louisiana Geography of Richland Parish, Louisiana National Register of Historic Places in Richland Parish, Louisiana

Site description

See also

References

External links