Jaketown Site
Jaketown Mounds
Late Archaic–Poverty Point ca. 1700–1500 BCE·Poverty Point culture (Jaketown phase)·🇺🇸 Mississippi, United States
About
About Jaketown Site
Late Archaic–Poverty Point related mound center (1700–1500 BCE) on Yazoo Basin levee with eight earthen mounds (largest Mound B 8 m high) and extensive Poverty Point Objects microliths, clay cooking balls and steatite vessels. Key for Poverty Point northern expression showing long-distance trade (copper, steatite) 1000 km. Ford's type-site for Jaketown phase transitional to Woodland.
Why it mattersNorthernmost major Poverty Point center showing 1700 BCE long-distance exchange without agriculture.
Open questions
Mysteries & theories
Mysteries
- 01Whether Jaketown is Poverty Point colony vs independent Archaic mound tradition
- 02Chronology 1700 BCE calibrated vs relative
Theories
- 01Poverty Point redistribution model: seasonal aggregative trade fair
- 02Pre-agricultural mound-building as hunter-gatherer complexity evidence
Theories are interpretations, not findings. The seal above tells you how much scholarly weight the place carries.
History
How it came to be
- Built
- c.1700–1500 BCE
- Period
- Late Archaic–Poverty Point ca. 1700–1500 BCE
- Culture
- Poverty Point culture (Jaketown phase)
- Builders
- Poverty Point peoples
- Purpose
- Ceremonial redistribution center and regional trade node
- Excavation
- Partially excavated
c.1700–1500 BCE
Initial construction
c. 1418 CE
Abandonment
On the ground
Structures & features
33.2983° N · 90.4833° W · 38 m · 2 mapped features
Jaketown Site central feature
featureMain architectural feature
33.2983° N · 90.4833° WJaketown Site secondary sector
sectorSecondary sector
33.2993° N · 90.4823° W
Gallery