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Poverty Point World Heritage Initiative

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Poverty Point State Historic Site Is on the Path to Becoming a World Heritage Site

• Louisiana has prepared the document nominating Poverty Point SHS to be a World Heritage Site. Click here to view and download the nomination document.
• The United States is nominating Poverty Point State Historic Site as a World Heritage site.
• The Poverty Point State Historic Site may be inscribed as a World Heritage Site in the summer of 2014.

• It is a program of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO).
• The World Heritage List is the international list of the world's most important natural wonders and cultural sites.
• Currently the list includes 962 sites in 157 countries, including:
  • Cahokia Mounds - United States
  • Machu Picchu - Peru
  • Pyramids of Giza - Egypt
• Listing shows the global importance of a property.
• More information about the World Heritage program in the United States is available from the National Park Service Office of International Affairs.

• In 2008, the U.S. selected 14 properties for a Tentative List for future nomination. Poverty Point State Historic Site was selected for that list, making it the first and only Louisiana property eligible for World Heritage listing.
• The Poverty Point Station Archaeologist, Dr. Diana Greenlee, led the multi-year project to prepare the World Heritage nomination. She worked closely with staff in the Office of Cultural Development and the Office of State Parks in the Louisiana Lieutenant Governor's Office. For more information, contact Dr. Greenlee at greenlee@ulm.edu.
• Many individuals and governmental agencies provided funding and content for the project.

• The earthworks are massive: 5 mounds and 6 C-shaped ridges surround a huge plaza.
• The geometric design is unique in the world and is a masterpiece of engineering.
• The site is 3,500 years old.
• At the time the earthworks were constructed, they were the largest in North America.
• The site was the major political, trading, and ceremonial center of its day in North America.
• The people who built and lived at the site did not raise crops.

• Visit Poverty Point State Historic Site, operated by the Louisiana Office of State Parks. The park is also known as the Poverty Point National Monument.
• Read Poverty Point: A Terminal Archaic Culture of the Lower Mississippi Valley by Jon L. Gibson
• View the Poverty Point Exhibit at the Louisiana State Museum in Baton Rouge.
• Teachers: Download Poverty Point Expeditions classroom activity guide or borrow a Poverty Point Classroom Exhibit from the Division of Archaeology.
• Watch Poverty Point Earthworks: Evolutionary Milestones of the Americas.