Paleo-Indians
Paleo-Indians, Paleoindians or Paleoamericans is a classification term given by scholars to the first peoples who entered, subsequently inhabited, the Americas during the final glacial episodes of the late Pleistocene period. The prefix "paleo-" comes from the Greek adjective palaios, meaning "old" or "ancient"; the term "Paleo-Indians" applies to the lithic period in the Western Hemisphere and is distinct from the term "Paleolithic". Traditional theories suggest that big-animal hunters crossed the Bering Strait from North Asia into the Americas over a land-and-ice bridge; this bridge existed from 45,000–12,000 BCE. Small isolated groups of hunter-gatherers migrated alongside herds of large herbivores far into Alaska. From c. 16,500 – c. 13,500 BCE, ice-free corridors developed along the Pacific coast and valleys of North America. This allowed animals, followed by humans; the people used primitive boats along the coastline. The precise dates and routes of the peopling of the New World remain subjects of ongoing debate.
Stone tools projectile points and scrapers, are the primary evidence of the earliest human activity in the Americas. Archaeologists and anthropologists use surviving crafted lithic flaked tools to classify cultural periods. Scientific evidence links Indigenous Americans to eastern Siberian populations. Indigenous peoples of the Americas have been linked to Siberian populations by linguistic factors, the distribution of blood types, in genetic composition as reflected by molecular data, such as DNA. There is evidence for at least two separate migrations. From 8000–7000 BCE the climate stabilized, leading to a rise in population and lithic technology advances, resulting in more sedentary lifestyle; the specifics of Paleo-Indian migration to and throughout the Americas, including the exact dates and routes traveled, are subject to ongoing research and discussion. The traditional theory has been that these early migrants moved into Beringia between eastern Siberia and present-day Alaska 17,000 years ago, when sea levels were lowered due to the Quaternary glaciation.
These people are believed to have followed herds of now-extinct pleistocene megafauna along ice-free corridors that stretched between the Laurentide and Cordilleran ice sheets. Another route proposed is that, either on foot or using primitive boats, they migrated down the Pacific coast to South America. Evidence of the latter would since have been covered by a sea level rise of hundreds of meters following the last ice age. Archaeologists contend that Paleo-Indians migrated out of Beringia, ranging from c. 40,000 – c. 16,500 years ago. This time range promises to continue as such for years to come; the few agreements achieved to date are the origin from Central Asia, with widespread habitation of the Americas during the end of the last glacial period, or more what is known as the late glacial maximum, around 16,000–13,000 years before present. However, alternative theories about the origins of Paleoindians exist, including migration from Europe. Sites in Alaska are where some of the earliest evidence has been found of Paleo-Indians, followed by archaeological sites in northern British Columbia, western Alberta and the Old Crow Flats region in the Yukon.
The Paleo-Indian would flourish all over the Americas. These peoples were spread over a wide geographical area. However, all the individual groups shared a common style of stone tool production, making knapping styles and progress identifiable; this early Paleo-Indian period lithic reduction tool adaptations have been found across the Americas, utilized by mobile bands consisting of 20 to 60 members of an extended family. Food would have been plentiful during the few warm months of the year. Lakes and rivers were teeming with many species of fish and aquatic mammals. Nuts and edible roots could be found in the forests and marshes; the fall would have been a busy time because foodstuffs would have to be stored and clothing made ready for the winter. During the winter, coastal fishing groups trap fresh food and furs. Late ice age climatic changes caused plant communities and animal populations to change. Groups moved from place to place as preferred resources were depleted and new supplies were sought.
Small bands utilized hunting and gathering during the spring and summer months broke into smaller direct family groups for the fall and winter. Family groups moved every 3–6 days traveling up to 360 km a year. Diets were sustaining and rich in protein due to successful hunting. Clothing was made from a variety of animal hides that were used for shelter construction. During much of the Early and Middle Paleo-Indian periods, inland bands are thought to have subsisted through hunting now-extinct megafauna. Large Pleistocene mammals were the giant beaver, steppe wisent, musk ox, woolly mammoths and ancient reindeer; the Clovis culture, appearing around 11,500 BCE, undoubtedly did not rely on megafauna for subsistence. Instead, they employed a mixed foraging strategy that included smaller terrestrial game, aquatic animals, a variety of flora. Paleo-Indian groups carried a variety of tools; these included efficient fluted style spear points, as well as microblades used for butchering and hide processing.
Projectile points and hammerstones made from many sources are found traded or moved to new locations. Stone tools were traded and/or left behind fro
Indigenous peoples of the Americas
The indigenous peoples of the Americas are the Pre-Columbian peoples of North and South America and their descendants. Although some indigenous peoples of the Americas were traditionally hunter-gatherers—and many in the Amazon basin, still are—many groups practiced aquaculture and agriculture; the impact of their agricultural endowment to the world is a testament to their time and work in reshaping and cultivating the flora indigenous to the Americas. Although some societies depended on agriculture, others practiced a mix of farming and gathering. In some regions the indigenous peoples created monumental architecture, large-scale organized cities, city-states, states and empires. Among these are the Aztec and Maya states that until the 16th century were among the most politically and advanced nations in the world, they had a vast knowledge of engineering, mathematics, writing, medicine and irrigation, mining and goldsmithing. Many parts of the Americas are still populated by indigenous peoples.
At least a thousand different indigenous languages are spoken in the Americas. Some, such as the Quechuan languages, Guaraní, Mayan languages and Nahuatl, count their speakers in millions. Many maintain aspects of indigenous cultural practices to varying degrees, including religion, social organization and subsistence practices. Like most cultures, over time, cultures specific to many indigenous peoples have evolved to incorporate traditional aspects but cater to modern needs; some indigenous peoples still live in relative isolation from Western culture and a few are still counted as uncontacted peoples. Indigenous peoples of the United States are known as Native Americans or American Indians and Alaska Natives. Application of the term "Indian" originated with Christopher Columbus, who, in his search for India, thought that he had arrived in the East Indies; those islands came to be known as the "West Indies", a name still used. This led to the blanket term "Indies" and "Indians" for the indigenous inhabitants, which implied some kind of racial or cultural unity among the indigenous peoples of the Americas.
This unifying concept, codified in law and politics, was not accepted by the myriad groups of indigenous peoples themselves, but has since been embraced or tolerated, by many over the last two centuries. Though the term "Indian" does not include the culturally and linguistically distinct indigenous peoples of the Arctic regions of the Americas—such as the Aleuts, Inuit or Yupik peoples, who entered the continent as a second more recent wave of migration several thousand years before and have much more recent genetic and cultural commonalities with the aboriginal peoples of the Asiatic Arctic Russian Far East—these groups are nonetheless considered "indigenous peoples of the Americas". Indigenous peoples are known in Canada as Aboriginal peoples, which includes not only First Nations and Arctic Inuit, but the minority population of First Nations-European mixed race Métis people who identify culturally and ethnically with indigenous peoplehood; this is contrasted, for instance, to the American Indian-European mixed race mestizos of Hispanic America who, with their larger population, identify as a new ethnic group distinct from both Europeans and Indigenous Americans, but still considering themselves a subset of the European-derived Hispanic or Brazilian peoplehood in culture and ethnicity.
The term Amerindian and its cognates find preferred use in scientific contexts and in Quebec, the Guianas and the English-speaking Caribbean. Indígenas or pueblos indígenas is a common term in Spanish-speaking countries and pueblos nativos or nativos may be heard, while aborigen is used in Argentina and pueblos originarios is common in Chile. In Brazil, indígenas or povos indígenas are common if formal-sounding designations, while índio is still the more often-heard term and aborígene and nativo being used in Amerindian-specific contexts; the Spanish and Portuguese equivalents to Indian could be used to mean any hunter-gatherer or full-blooded Indigenous person to continents other than Europe or Africa—for example, indios filipinos. The specifics of Paleo-Indian migration to and throughout the Americas, including the exact dates and routes traveled, are the subject of ongoing research and discussion. According to archaeological and genetic evidence and South America were the last continents in the world to gain human habitation.
During the Wisconsin glaciation, 50–17,000 years ago, falling sea levels allowed people to move across the land bridge of Beringia that joined Siberia to northwest North America. Alaska was a glacial refugium; the Laurentide Ice Sheet covered most of North America, blocking nomadic inhabitants and confining them to Alaska for thousands of years. Indigenous genetic studies suggest that the first inhabitants of the Americas share a single ancestral population, one that developed in isolation, conjectured to be Beringia; the isolat
Gauley Bridge, West Virginia
Gauley Bridge is a town in Fayette County, West Virginia, United States. The population was 614 at the 2010 census; the Kanawha River is formed at Gauley Bridge by the confluence of the Gauley Rivers. Two miles to the southeast of Gauley Bridge, in Glen Ferris, West Virginia, is Kanawha Falls, a popular stopping point on Midland Trail Scenic Highway; the community was named after a bridge over the Gauley River near the original town site. Gauley Bridge was close to the site of the Hawk's Nest incident, in which hundreds of lives were lost in the 1920s and 1930s. Gauley Bridge is located at 38°10′04″N 81°11′49″W. According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of 1.63 square miles, of which, 1.58 square miles is land and 0.05 square miles is water. As of the census of 2010, there were 614 people, 279 households, 159 families residing in the town; the population density was 388.6 inhabitants per square mile. There were 361 housing units at an average density of 228.5 per square mile.
The racial makeup of the town was 98.9% White, 0.3% Native American, 0.8% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 0.5% of the population. There were 279 households of which 23.3% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 34.8% were married couples living together, 16.5% had a female householder with no husband present, 5.7% had a male householder with no wife present, 43.0% were non-families. 37.6% of all households were made up of individuals and 18.3% had someone living alone, 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.20 and the average family size was 2.87. The median age in the town was 43.5 years. 19.4% of residents were under the age of 18. The gender makeup of the town was 48.4% male and 51.6% female. As of the census of 2000, there were 738 people, 325 households, 205 families residing in the town; the population density was 458.6 inhabitants per square mile. There were 374 housing units at an average density of 232.4 per square mile. The racial makeup of the town was 97.43% White, 0.68% African American, 0.68% from other races, 1.22% from two or more races.
Hispanic or Latino of any race were 1.36% of the population. There were 325 households out of which 28.0% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 42.8% were married couples living together, 15.1% had a female householder with no husband present, 36.9% were non-families. 31.4% of all households were made up of individuals and 13.8% had someone living alone, 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.26 and the average family size was 2.80. In the town, the population was spread out with 22.6% under the age of 18, 11.7% from 18 to 24, 26.3% from 25 to 44, 23.3% from 45 to 64, 16.1% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 35 years. For every 100 females, there were 88.3 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 86.0 males. The median income for a household in the town was $22,500, the median income for a family was $25,987. Males had a median income of $26,250 versus $19,688 for females; the per capita income for the town was $11,820. About 26.7% of families and 33.4% of the population were below the poverty line, including 49.7% of those under age 18 and 24.7% of those age 65 or over.
U. S. Route 60, WV 16, WV 39 all intersect in Downtown Gauley Bridge. MacGillivray Milne, 27th Governor of American Samoa
Gauley River
The Gauley River is a 105-mile-long river in West Virginia. It merges with the New River to form a tributary of the Ohio River; the river features numerous recreational whitewater areas, including those in Gauley River National Recreation Area downstream of the Summersville Dam. The Gauley rises in the Monongahela National Forest on Gauley Mountain in Pocahontas County as three streams, the North and South Forks, each of which flows across the southern extremity of Randolph County; the river flows west-southwestwardly through Webster and Fayette counties, past the towns of Camden-on-Gauley and Summersville, to the town of Gauley Bridge, where it joins the New River to form the Kanawha River. Via the Kanawha and Ohio rivers, it is part of the Mississippi River watershed; the Gauley's largest tributaries all flow into the main river from the east and are described as follows: The Williams River drains a segment of the Monongahela National Forest, joining the Gauley in rural Webster County. The Cranberry River flows through the Monongahela National Forest and empties into the Gauley in rural Nicholas County.
The Cherry River, which flows through the town of Richwood, joins the Gauley near Craigsville. The Meadow River, which flows through the town of Rainelle, joins the Gauley at the Fayette-Nicholas County border. In Nicholas County, the Gauley is impounded by the Summersville Dam, a U. S. Army Corps of Engineers dam; the Gauley River National Recreation Area is downstream of the dam. The Gauley is run year-round by recreational boaters and from spring to fall by commercial rafting companies. During the majority of the year, boating is dependent on water level, which fluctuates depending on rainfall and the level of Summersville Lake. However, starting the Friday after Labor Day, the Army Corps of Engineers provides a series of twenty-two controlled releases for the express purpose of downriver recreation; these releases are collectively known as "Gauley Season" and are scheduled on six successive weekends, the first five of which are four-day weekends and the last of, just Saturday and Sunday. Typical release levels during "Gauley Season" range from 2,400 to 2,800 ft³/s.
These releases are the result of an act of the U. S. Congress, the first law passed in the U. S. to mandate recreational whitewater dam releases. The releases bring millions of dollars annually to the local economy, as paddlers travel from all over the United States and overseas for this event; the Gauley area was the site of the Battle of Carnifex Ferry on September 10, 1861, a Union victory in the American Civil War. The Gauley River's name most is derived from Gaul, a historical region of Europe including most of current day France, from the time when West Virginia was part of New France before the French and Indian War; the river has had various Indian names, variant spellings of Gaul/Gauley as well as Falling/Falls Creek. List of West Virginia rivers Gauley River National Recreation Area US Army Corps of Engineers: Southern WV Weather And Water Levels
Pocahontas County, West Virginia
Pocahontas County is a county located in the U. S. state of West Virginia. As of the 2010 census, the population was 8,719, its county seat is Marlinton. The county was established in 1821, it is named after the daughter of the Powhatan Native American chief from Virginia. She married an English settler and their mixed-race children became ancestors of many of the First Families of Virginia. Pocahontas County is the home to the Green Bank Observatory and is part of the National Radio Quiet Zone; when Andrew Lewis, early American pioneer and soldier from Virginia, came to survey one of the land grants for the Greenbrier Company in 1751, he found Jacob Marlin and Stephen Sewell living where Marlinton developed. They had come from Frederick, Maryland, in 1749 and are considered to be the first European-American settlers west of the Alleghenies, they built their original cabin. Lewis had found Sewell living in a large hollow sycamore tree near the cabin; this area is now between Eighth and Ninth streets of Marlinton.
This area along the Ohio River was reserved by the nations of the Iroquois Confederacy as a hunting ground, by right of their conquest of tribes, in the area. The Native Americans resisted Europeans moving into the area. A treaty of 1758 by Great Britain confirmed the land west of the Allegheny Mountains to the Indians and forbade his Majesty’s subjects from settling or hunting here, but the white settlers continued to encroach onto the Indian land, sparking many raids and massacres between the groups. After the Revolution, the Indian squabbles quieted and the settlers’ land claims were secured in an orderly manner. In June 1863, West Virginia became the 35th state of the Union. Although part of Virginia at the time, the western area had a different culture and economy than the Tidewater, it had been settled by yeomen farmers. In the east, planters developed a slave society in which the elite lived well; when Virginia seceded from the Union in 1861, many residents of the western counties, few of whom owned slaves, decided to stay with the Union.
The railroads came late to Pocahontas County, as building rails over the mountains was a difficult and expensive project. It was not until 1899 that construction began but after that, the task moved with startling speed; the 1900 census of the county indicates that many European immigrants came to the region as workers on building the railroads through this area. Commercial timbering began upon completion of the railroads, including a large mill owned by the West Virginia Pulp & Paper Company at Cass. By the end of 1920, dozens of small railroading towns dotted the landscape along the Chesapeake & Ohio Railway line. According to the U. S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 942 square miles, of which 940 square miles is land and 1.5 square miles is water. It is the third-largest county in West Virginia by area; the highest point is Thorny Flat on Cheat Mountain in the northwestern part of the county, elevation 4848 feet. The county is the site of the headwaters for eight rivers: Cherry River, Cranberry River, Elk River, Gauley River, Greenbrier River, Tygart Valley River, Williams River, Shavers Fork of the Cheat River.
The Monongahela National Forest protects much of the river headwaters, thereby helping to ensure improved downstream water quality. Monongahela National Forest Cranberry Glades Botanical Area Gaudineer Scenic Area As of the census of 2000, there were 9,131 people, 3,835 households, 527 families residing in the county; the population density was 10 people per square mile. There were 7,594 housing units at an average density of 8 per square mile; the racial makeup of the county was 98.38% White, 0.78% Black or African American, 0.07% Native American, 0.14% Asian, 0.05% from other races, 0.58% from two or more races. 0.43% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race. There were 3,835 households out of which 25.80% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 53.90% were married couples living together, 7.90% had a female householder with no husband present, 34.10% were non-families. 29.60% of all households were made up of individuals and 14.40% had someone living alone, 65 years of age or older.
The average household size was 2.30 and the average family size was 2.83. In the county, the population was spread out with 20.90% under the age of 18, 7.00% from 18 to 24, 27.50% from 25 to 44, 27.40% from 45 to 64, 17.30% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 42 years. For every 100 females there were 106.20 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 103.60 males. The median income for a household in the county was $26,401, the median income for a family was $32,511. Males had a median income of $26,173 versus $16,780 for females; the per capita income for the county was $14,384. About 12.70% of families and 17.10% of individuals were below the poverty line, including 20.20% of those under age 18 and 14.60% of those age 65 or over. As of the 2010 United States Census, there were 8,719 people, 3,758 households, 2,373 families residing in the county; the population density was 9.3 inhabitants per square mile. There were 8,847 housing units at an average density of 9.4 per square mile.
The racial makeup of the county was 97.8% white, 0.7% black or African American, 0.2% American Indian, 0.2% from other races, 1.0% from two or more races. Those of Hispanic or Latino origin made up 0.8% of the population. In terms of ancestry, 23.0% were German, 20.1% were Irish, 12.7% were English, 9.9% were American, 5.2% were Scottish, 5.1% were Dutch. Of the 3,758 households, 24.1% had children
Putnam County, West Virginia
Putnam County is a county in the U. S. state of West Virginia. As of the 2010 United States Census, the population was 55,486, its county seat is Winfield. Putnam County is part of the Huntington-Ashland, WV-KY-OH Metropolitan Statistical Area, across the Kanawha River from Charleston, West Virginia; the Virginia General Assembly formed Putnam County on March 11, 1848, from parts of Cabell and Mason counties. It was named for Israel Putnam, a hero in the French and Indian War and a general in the American Revolutionary War. George Washington surveyed the area in 1770. Winfield, the county seat, had been founded in 1818 but was incorporated on February 21, 1868, named to honor General Winfield Scott a General during the Mexican American War and early stage of the American Civil War. Slavery was a divisive issue in Putnam County during the American Civil War. In the Virginia Secession Convention of 1861, Putnam County voters elected James W. Hoge to represent them, he voted against secession on April 17, 1861, when the convention passed the secession ordinance.
He signed the ordinance. No one from Putnam county attended the Wheeling Convention which led to the creation of the state of West Virginia in 1863. Congressman Albert G. Jenkins resigned from the U. S. Congress, raised a group of partisan rangers to fight for the Confederacy, was promoted to Brigadier General before his death in 1864 as a result of a battlefield wound; the Battle of Scary Creek on July 17, 1861 was a Confederate victory early in the war, but Confederate troops withdrew to Charleston. Another skirmish on October 24, 1864 began as Confederates seized and sank a Union steamboat on the Kanawha River near Winfield, but ended as a Union victory. Putnam County's Civil War soldiers were about evenly split between Union and Confederate 400 to each side. A railroad was rebuilt through Putnam County in 1875; the Kanawha River flows north-northwestward through the center of Putnam County. The county terrain consists of wooded hills, carved with drainages; the terrain slopes to the north, with the highest point near its SW corner at 1,129' ASL.
The county has a total area of 350 square miles, of which 346 square miles is land and 4.7 square miles is water. As of the 2000 United States Census, there were 51,589 people, 20,028 households, 15,281 families in the county; the population density was 149/sqmi. There were 21,621 housing units at an average density of 62.5/sqmi. The racial makeup of the county was 97.97% White, 0.56% Black or African American, 0.16% Native American, 0.58% Asian, 0.02% Pacific Islander, 0.13% from other races, 0.59% from two or more races. 0.51 % of the population were Latinos of any race. There were 20,028 households out of which 35.40% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 64.20% were married couples living together, 8.90% had a female householder with no husband present, 23.70% were non-families. 20.60% of all households were made up of individuals and 7.90% had someone living alone, 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.56 and the average family size was 2.96. The county population contained 25.00% under the age of 18, 7.60% from 18 to 24, 30.40% from 25 to 44, 25.50% from 45 to 64, 11.60% who were 65 years of age or older.
The median age was 38 years. For every 100 females there were 96.70 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 93.50 males. The median income for a household in the county was $41,892, the median income for a family was $48,674. Males had a median income of $40,782 versus $23,532 for females; the per capita income for the county was $20,471. About 7.10% of families and 9.30% of the population were below the poverty line, including 11.30% of those under age 18 and 7.60% of those age 65 or over. As of the 2010 United States Census, there were 55,486 people, 21,981 households, 16,176 families in the county; the population density was 160/sqmi. There were 23,438 housing units at an average density of 67.7/sqmi. The racial makeup of the county was 96.8% white, 0.9% black or African American, 0.7% Asian, 0.2% American Indian, 0.3% from other races, 1.1% from two or more races. Those of Hispanic or Latino origin made up 0.9% of the population. In terms of ancestry, 13.2% were American, 12.9% were German, 11.3% were English, 10.6% were Irish.
Of the 21,981 households, 33.6% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 59.6% were married couples living together, 9.5% had a female householder with no husband present, 26.4% were non-families, 22.3% of all households were made up of individuals. The average household size was 2.51 and the average family size was 2.93. The median age was 40.9 years. The median income for a household in the county was $52,618 and the median income for a family was $63,642. Males had a median income of $51,837 versus $31,198 for females; the per capita income for the county was $25,857. About 8.5% of families and 10.4% of the population were below the poverty line, including 15.6% of those under age 18 and 6.5% of those age 65 or over. Putnam County voters have traditionally voted Republican. In only one national election since 1964 has the county selected the Democratic Party candidate. Hurricane Nitro Culloden Hometown Teays Valley Amherst-Plymouth Wildlife Management Area National Register of Historic Places listings in Putnam County, West Virginia Official website for Putnam County
Earthworks (archaeology)
In archaeology, earthworks are artificial changes in land level made from piles of artificially placed or sculpted rocks and soil. Earthworks can themselves be archaeological features. Earthworks of interest to archaeologists include hill forts, mounds, platform mounds, effigy mounds, long barrows, tumuli and furrow, round barrows, other tombs. Hill forts, a type of fort made out of earth and other natural materials including sand and water, were built as early as the late Stone Age and were built more during the Bronze Age and Iron Age as a means of protection. See Oppidum. Henge earthworks are those that consist of a flat area of earth in a circular shape that are encircled by a ditch, or several circular ditches, with a bank on the outside of the ditch built with the earth from inside the ditch, they are believed to have been used as monuments for spiritual ritual ceremonies. A mound is a substantial manmade pile of earth or rocks, created to mark burial sites Platform mounds are pyramid or rectangular-shaped mounds that are used to hold a building or temple on top.
An effigy mound is a pile of earth very large in scale, shaped into the image of a person or animal for symbolic or spiritual reasons An enclosure is a space, surrounded by an earthwork. Long barrows are oblong-shaped mounds. A tumulus or barrow is a mound of earth created over a tomb. A cross dyke or cross-ridge dyke is a bank and ditch, or sometimes a ditch between two banks, that crosses a ridge or spur of high ground. Found in Europe and belonging to the Bronze Age or Iron Age. Marked on Ordnance Survey maps in the UK. Ridge and furrows are sets of parallel depressions and ridges in the ground formed through historic farming techniques. Mottes are mound structures made of stone that once held castles, they are an important part of the motte-and-bailey castle, a castle design during early Norman times in which the castle is built on the motte, surrounded by a ditch and a bailey, an enclosure with a stone wall. A round barrow is a mound, in a rounded shape, used during Neolithic times as a burial mound.
Geoglyph, a large design or motif Earthworks can vary in height from a few centimetres to the size of Silbury Hill at 40 metres. They can date from the Neolithic to the present; the structures can stretch for many tens of kilometres. In area, they can cover many hectares. Shallow earthworks are more visible as cropmarks or in aerial photographs if taken when the sun is low in the sky and shadows are more pronounced. Earthworks may be more visible after a frost or a light dusting of snow. Earthworks plotted using Light Detection and Ranging; this technique is useful for mapping small variations in land height that would be difficult to detect by eye. It can be used for features hidden by other vegetation. LIDAR results can be input into a geographic information system to produce three-dimensional representations of the earthworks. An accurate survey of the earthworks can enable them to be interpreted without the need for excavation. For example, earthworks from deserted medieval villages can be used to determine the location and layout of lost settlements.
These earthworks can point to the purpose of such a settlement, as well the context in which it existed. Earthworks in North America include mounds built by Native Americans known as the Mound Builders. Ancient people who lived in the American Midwest built effigy mounds, which are mounds shaped like animals or people; the most famous of these effigy mounds is Serpent Mound. Located in the Ohio, this 411-meterlong earthen work is thought to memorialize alignments of the planets and stars that were of special significance to the Native Americans that constructed it. Cone-shaped or conical mounds are numerous, with thousands of them scattered across the American Midwest, some over 80 feet tall; these conical mounds appear to be marking the graves of one person or dozens of people. An example of a conical mound is the Miamisburg Mound in central Ohio, estimated to have been built by people of the Adena culture in the time range of 800 B. C. to 100 AD. The American Plains hold temple mounds, or platform mounds, which are giant pyramid-shaped mounds with flat tops that once held temples made of wood.
Examples of temple mounds include Monks Mound located at the Cahokia site in Collinsville and Mound H at the Crystal River site in Citrus County, Florida. The earthworks at Poverty Point occupy one of the largest-area sites in North America, as they cover some 920 acres of land in Louisiana. Military earthworks can result in subsequent archaeological earthworks. Examples include Roman marching forts. During the American Civil War, earthwork fortifications were built throughout the country, by both Confederate and Union sides; the largest earthwork fort built during the war was Fortress Rosecrans, which encompassed 255 acres. In northeastern Somalia, near the city of Bosaso at the end of the Baladi valley, lies an earthwork 2 km to 3 km long. Local tradition recounts, it is the largest such structure in the wider Horn region. Bigo is an extensive earthworks site located in the interlacustrine region of southwestern Uganda, Africa. Situated on the south shore of the Katonga river, the Big
