Poverty Point (French: Pointe de Pauvreté) is a prehistoric archeological site dating between 1650 – 700 BC in northeastern Louisiana, 15.5 miles (24.9 km) from the current Mississippi River on the edge of Maçon Ridge by the village of Epps in West Carroll Parish. The name Poverty Point also refers to inhabitants of similar sites nearby and to the Poverty Point culture. The name is derived from a plantation on which the site was discovered in 1873.

At the time, it was believed that the site was a natural formation. In the 1950s, however, aerial photographs revealed the complexity and complete pattern of the man-made earthwork. The State of Louisiana protects the site as Poverty Point State Historic Site, which includes a museum and nature trails.

The core of the site measures approximately 500 acres (2.0 km2), while recent archaeological investigations have shown that the total occupation area extends for more than 3 miles along the river terrace. In the center of the site are a set of six concentric curved earthen ridges separated by flat corridors of earth. Dividing the ridges into three sections are two ramps that slope inwardly leading to Bayou Maçon.

Each ridge is currently about three feet high, although it is believed that they were once five feet high. The approximated diameter of the outside ridge is three-quarters of a mile, while the innermost ridge’s diameter is about three-eights of a mile.

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