Poverty Point Objects Reconsidered

Abstract

In this paper we examine the enigmatic but plentiful hand-molded, baked-clay objects known as Poverty Point Objects (PPOs) from a number of different facets. Although the vast majority of these Terminal Archaic artifacts are found in the Lower Mississippi Valley, they also are found at sites as far north as Clarksville, Indiana, and as far east as the Atlantic Coast of Florida. Although most archaeologists generally assume PPOs were used primarily for roasting food, we consider a variety of other possible functions, including their use in boiling water and as symbolic tokens linking the far-flung Poverty Point culture area. We demonstrate that even though a few other archaeological cultures in the world used round clay balls for cooking, the Poverty Point culture was unique in the care, variety, and standardized forms of its baked-clay objects. We discuss the various PPO types and their possible functions in nine distinct regions in the southeastern United States and, based on our thin-section analyses of 66 samples, we demonstrate that PPOs circulated among different sites in these regions.

KEYWORDS:

• Southeastern United States
• Poverty Point
• Exchange
• Poverty Point Object (PPO)
• Petrographic thin sections

Acknowledgments

The authors would like to acknowledge the insightful comments of the three reviewers and those of the editor. We would also like to acknowledge several institutions which loaned us artifact samples for the thin-section study: Museum of Anthropology, University of Missouri; C. H. Nash Museum at Chucalissa, University of Memphis; Hancock County Historical Society; University of Southern Mississippi; Louisiana Division of Archaeology and Louisiana Division of State Parks; Mississippi Department of Archives and History; and University of South Florida. Stephen Williams and T.R. Kidder also assisted us in procuring samples for the study. Several individuals loaned us samples from their private collections: Catherine and Phillip Burgess, Don Janzen, Lee Arco, Paul Lien, and L. Janice Campbell. We also benefited enormously from the help and advice of numerous professional and avocational archaeologists and geologists: Nancy White, Jean Heartfield, James Fenton, Deena Woodward, Ann Cordell, Charles Cobb, Bryan Tucker, and Juan Lorenzo. Research grants from the Washington County Foundation and the Department of Anthropology and Sociology, University of Wisconsin, provided money for various laboratory analyses and trips to professional meetings and conferences. Lastly, colleagues at Coastal Environments, Inc., provided invaluable advice and support, particularly Jessica Kowalski, Joanne Ryan, and Donald Hunter.

Data Availability Statement

The thin sections for this study are curated at the Laboratory of Archaeology at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and our acknowledgements indicate the institutions and private collections from which the PPO samples were obtained.

ORCiD

Christopher T. Hays http://orcid.org/0000-0002-9938-4424

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Christopher T. Hays

NOTE ON CONTRIBUTOR

Christopher Hays is a professor of Anthropology at the University of Wisconsin-Washington County Campus. His research interests and publications have focused on the Adena, Tchefuncte, and Poverty Point Cultures.