Poverty Point, Louisiana

The Riches of Poverty Point

Earthworks built around 3,700 years ago in Louisiana centered an exchange system that stretched up the Mississippi and into the Ohio and Tennessee Valleys.
A botanical illustration of Indigofera tinctoria from La botanique de J.J. Rousseau, 1805

Plant of the Month: Indigo

The cultivation of this plant for its cherished blue dye tells the story of exploitative agricultural practices—and, hopefully, its reversal.
Ascaris worms, a group of parasitic nematode worms, also known as small intestinal roundworms.

How Archaeologists Use Parasites to Track Urbanization

Historical patterns of parasitic infection show up differently depending on the class status of a neighborhood.
Anne and Bernard Spitzer Hall of Human Origins, American Museum of Natural History, Upper West Side, New York, NY

Sewing Saved Us from a “Cold Snap” 13 Thousand Years Ago

Sewing a full winter outfit from animal hides took 105 hours. And we needed lots of them to survive the Younger Dryas Cold Event.
beef jerky in a pile on slate surface

Ch’arki: The First Jerky

Ch'arki is made in the high-altitude Andes by alternately drying the meat in the hot sun and freezing it during the cold nights.
River Basin archaeologists

The River Basin Surveys Preserved American Prehistory

Between 1945 and 1969, archaeologists hurriedly surveyed over 20,000 prehistorical sites before the Mississippi River Basin was flooded by dams.
Freshwater Mussels

America’s Imperiled Freshwater Mussels

Freshwater mussels were once found in astonishing numbers and diversity in North America. Then came the button fanciers, and then the pearl-makers.
Cahokia mounds

The Mysterious Pre-Columbian Settlement of Cahokia

Cahokia was the largest pre-columbian settlement north of Mexico. It collapsed centuries before Europeans arrived in the region. What happened?
Demere and Cerutti

Have Humans Been in the Americas Longer Than We Thought?

Humans may have inhabited the Americas much longer than initially suspected. But questions like who these people were remain unanswered.
Side-by-side comparison of Kennewick Man's skull and a reconstructed head.

A New Chapter to the Controversial Case of Kennewick Man

Kennewick Man is indeed most closely related to modern Native Americans. New results bolster the argument for repatriation and reburial.