Wednesday, February 13, 2013

All the dirt on an ancient earthen mound | Redux

All the dirt on an ancient earthen mound

Cotopaxi, Ecuador
Cotopaxi, Ecuador by Dallas Krentzel
License (according to Flickr): Attribution License
Excerpt:

The enormous earthen monument Poverty Point, built on a Mississippi River bayou some 3,200 years back, is an impressive feat of engineering. Hunter-gatherers moved more than 26. 5 million cubic feet (750,000 cubic meters) of dirt to create concentric ridges and several big mounds in what is today northern Louisiana. Now analysts say one of the most excellent earthworks at the site likely took shape in fewer than 90 days, built by hundreds of Native American laborers using a "bucket brigade" system. Archaeologists excavating parts of Poverty Point, which is now in the going to become a UNESCO World Heritage Site, analyzed center samplings and sediments from one of the massive earthen features called Mound A. Curiously, they discovered no traces of rainfall or disintegration throughout the building phase of the mound.

People:

T.R. Kidder

Overall Sentiment: 0.112089

Relevance: 0.91636

SentimentQuote
0.0205518"The Poverty Point mounds were built by people who had no access to domesticated draft animals, no wheelbarrows, no sophisticated tools for moving earth," Kidder explained ...
-0.0165398"The Poverty Point mounds were built by people who had no access to domesticated draft animals, no wheelbarrows, no sophisticated tools for moving earth," Kidder explained in a statement. "It's likely that these mounds were built using a simple 'bucket brigade' system, with thousands of people passing soil along from one to another using some form of crude container, such as a woven basket, a hide sack or a wooden platter."
Sentiment Stats:
  • Number of Quotes: 2
  • Aggregate Sentiment: 0.004012
  • Mean: 0.002006
  • Standard Deviation: 1.7320508075689

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Additional Info:

GeographicFeature: Mississippi River

Overall Sentiment: -0.0281798

Relevance: 0.816885

StateOrCounty: Louisiana

Overall Sentiment: 0.129651

Relevance: 0.69198

Disambiguation: Location | PoliticalDistrict | AdministrativeDivision | GovernmentalJurisdiction | USStateReferences:

City: St. Louis

Overall Sentiment: 0

Relevance: 0.454539

Disambiguation: AdministrativeDivision | GovernmentalJurisdiction | OlympicHostCity | PlaceWithNeighborhoods | USCountyReferences:
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