Lecture – Archaeological Legacy of Poverty Point by Diana Greenlee
Factory-made modern cutting implements versus hand crafted, all natural paleo-cutlery (Image Credit: Gus Costa, The Flintstone Factory
A remarkable earthworks complex that was built and occupied by American Indians from about 1700 to 1100 BCE in what is today northeast Louisiana is designated Poverty Point World Heritage Site. Some archaeologists refer to Poverty Point as the “New York City” of its day because it was so huge, sophisticated and out-of-character compared to everything else going on at that time. Trading hub, engineering marvel, monument to ingenuity—the original configuration included five earthen mounds; six nested, c-shaped, earthen ridges that served as the habitation area; and a flat interior plaza.
Although it is not the oldest or the largest mound complex in North America, it stands out as something special—a singularity—because of its scale and design, and because the people here lived by hunting, fishing and gathering wild foods. Also, because there was no naturally occurring rock at the site, tons of stone for tools and other objects were brought in over distances up to 800 miles. At Poverty Point, we can glimpse a reflection of humanity that no longer exists.
This program is co-sponsored by Fort Bend Archeological Society and Houston Archeological Society.
October 4, 2016 at 6:30pm
Coming Soon!
Lecture – Deep Life: The Hunt for Hidden Biology of Earth, Mars, and Beyond by Tullis Onstot
Photo by NASA
Taking us to the absolute limits of life–the biotic fringe–where scientists hope to discover the very origins of life itself, Dr. Tullis Onstott of Princeton University will explain how geomicrobiologists are helping the quest to find life in the solar system by going to uncharted regions deep beneath Earth’s crust. The recent discoveries of exotic subsurface life forms are helping understand the possibilities of life in the Universe. Book signing following lecture.
October 12, 2016 at 6:30pm
Lecture – Houston and the Civil Rights Movement by Rev. William Lawson
On the forefront of the Civil Rights movement, Reverend William Lawson and his wife Audrey founded Houston’s Wheeler Ave. Baptist Church in their home in 1962 while he was serving as Professor of Bible at the new Texas Southern University. Join Rev. Lawson in conversation with his daughter Melanie Lawson for special evening recounting key moments in his campaign for civil liberties, including organizing Houstonians to travel to the March on Washington and his friendship and working relationship with Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
October 17th, at 6:30pm
