The Not-So-New World

Echoes of the past reverberate around us, calling out for secrets to be told.

Ancient Mound — Poverty Point, Louisiana. Credit: “Mound at Poverty Point” by kniemla, licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0.

The Ancient Past surrounds us in North America like an unspoken, open secret. Speaking it, however, may require too much revision of the tales and legends we tell ourselves of our taming the “New World” — for it is seldom mentioned. But both honesty and history demand a reevaluation and a retelling, all the same. For the echoes of the ancient past call out for a hearing, and stir us to discovery.

What is this secret laid out all around us, in the open? When many consider ancient ruins remaining from antiquity, mysterious sites which yield clues to vanished civilizations, the Pyramids of Egypt built circa 2500 BC may come to mind, or perhaps Stonehenge in Great Britain, built around 2600 BC.[i] Yet many remain unaware of ancient sites here in North America which predate or are contemporary with these better known ancient wonders.

The Watson Brake Mound Complex. Credit: Map From Wikimedia Commons, the free media repository: Maximilian Dörrbecker (Chumwa) [CC BY-SA 2.5]

Have you heard about the impressive circle of mounds, found at Watson Brake, Louisiana, which predate both Stonehenge and the Pyramids? They go all the way back to about 3400 BC.[ii] Built by hunter-gatherers, whom we didn’t used to…