These earthworks, together with a buried, mound-like feature with unique soil properties unlike any of the known earthworks at the site, demonstrate that the Plaza at Poverty Point has a more elaborate construction history than we knew. Diana.
Poverty Point World Heritage Site is slowly revealing her secrets. Diana Greenlee, Ph.D., station archaeologist at the ancient monumental earthworks and adjunct professor at the University of Louisiana Monroe, said recent archaeological research shows the site is “much more complex than previously realized.”
The Mystery of the Oval Ditches Found Near Burial Mounds in Norway
The discovery of the burial mounds was not a surprise. Aerial photographs had already picked up subtle signs of their presence, and it was in fact these photographs that prompted the 2019 survey. But what fascinated archaeologists the most was the discovery of 32 moderately-sized oval ditches, an enigmatic feature that has never been seen before in GPR surveys or excavations in this part of Norway. The ditches were oriented similarly, with their narrowest ends facing toward the sea. This suggests the ditches were constructed to minimize exposure to wicked eastward winds, which are frequent and often unrelenting in this part of the globe.
Friday, January 22, 2021
TRONDHEIM, NORWAY According to a statement released by the Norwegian University of Science and Technology, a survey conducted in northern Norway’s Bodø municipality with ground-penetrating radar detected the presence of 15 burial mounds, one of which may contain a boat grave. Archaeologist Arne Anderson Stamnes said the size and shape of the mounds suggests that they date to between A.D. 650 and 950, or the Viking Age. The largest mound measures about 100 feet across, he explained. The survey also revealed 32 unusual, oval ditches oriented with their narrow ends toward the sea. Stamnes and his colleagues think the ditches may represent the foundations of buildings, although the survey did not reveal any firepits within the ditches. Instead, Stamnes suggests the structures may have been used as market stalls or temporary dwellings similar to those seen at archaeological sites in Iceland. More than 1,200 pits were also detected, Stamnes said, indicating tha