Society and government are the most difficult dimensions of prehistoric cultures for archaeologists to reconstruct. This is because they do not leave material remains and must be inferred indirectly. Yet social and political institutions are basic to every culture. They are primary factors that distinguish one group of people from another.
Attempts to determine social and political organization have been mainly limited to the Poverty Point site. It is hard, especially in light of accomplishments at the magnificent town of Poverty Point, to think of Poverty Point society as anything other than an advanced culture, perhaps attaining, if only momentarily, the threshold of civilization itself.
Political organization seems to have been as sophisticated. Just to run a town the size of Poverty Point—the largest in the country in 1000 B.C.—must have required administration far more complicated than that normally found in primitive bands or simple tribes. In addition to its giant size, there was an ambitious civic building program that required administering, as well as commercial trade enterprises that had to be overseen. All this pointed to strong, centralized authority and strict regulation.
Chiefdoms had these capabilities, and if the Poverty Point community comprised a chiefdom, it would be the first appearance of this elaborate socio-political institution in the prehistoric United States (Gibson 1974). The political arm of Poverty Point seems to have reached beyond the major municipal district. It no doubt embraced those nearby neighborhoods which stretched for more than three miles above and below the central enclosure. It probably extended farther to those bluff edge and lowland Villages within a 20 to 30 mile radius of the “capital.” If this 400-square-mile territory does represent the sphere of Poverty Point jurisdiction, it is likely that influence on the outer limits was restricted to special situations. Everyday life in these outlying villages must have normally transpired without influence or interference from the chiefdom center. There may have been yet another jurisdictional realm. Long-distance management, if not some degree of control, seems evident in foreign trade relations.
If indeed Poverty Point did exercise three levels of administration, over municipality, district, and commercial trade, it would have been one of the most complex developments in prehistoric America north of Mexico. This country would not see its like again until after A.D. 1000 and, even then, only in a few places in the East. There are dissenting views on the chiefdom hypothesis, and it will not be surprising if future studies find that different kinds of societies and distinctive structures, existed throughout the Lower Mississippi culture area.
Regardless of whether Poverty Point communities were chiefdoms or tribes or whether organization was complex or simple, there is no doubt that kinship played a dominant role in holding people together. Communities were most basically groups of kinfolks, joined by blood and marriage ties. Social relationships were based on familiarity. Social statuses were established by personal abilities and by birthright. The simpler the organization, the more important was personal ability and achievement; the more complex the society, the more important became birthright—family standing and inheritance.
Various studies have revealed that the Poverty Point community was well-ordered and highly structured. Part of that order and structure was due to social and political factors which permeated the basic fabric of Poverty Point society. Perhaps the best example of Poverty Point political organization is its well-run trading system.
Long-distance trade was a hallmark of Poverty Point culture. Like most other aspects of the culture, there is no consensus about the nature of the trade. Archaeologists argue about identifications and sources of trade materials, especially various flints, but no one questions that many materials were moved over long distances. Some materials originated more than 700 miles from the Poverty Point site, and extreme distances of more than 1000 miles sometimes separate sources from final destinations. Trade materials were quite varied and derived from many areas of the eastern United States, including the Ouachita, Ozark, and Appalachian mountains and the Upper Mississippi Valley and Great Lakes ([Figure 13]).
Poverty Point trade dealt primarily in rocks and minerals. At least so it seems. If other things were also circulated, they left no remains. Rocks do make good sense, however. Indians of the day made most of their tools out of rocks; they had no metal-working technology. Rocks do occur in the heartland of Poverty Point culture but mainly as gravels or as outcrops of crumbly sandstones, ironstones, and other soft materials, ill-suited for chipping. While local resources could have furnished (and did furnish for many Lower Mississippi cultures and many periods) all the essential materials for craft and tool “industries,” most of the materials imported by Poverty Point groups were better and prettier. They were obviously highly desired, and the quantities in which they were circulated shows that consumer demand was high and supply systems efficient.
