Watson Brake

Watson Brake is an archaeological site in Ouachita Parish, Louisiana from the Archaic period. Dated to about 5400 years ago (approx. 3500 BCE), Watson Brake is considered the earliest mound complex in North America. It is the earliest dated, complex construction in the Americas. It is an arrangement of human-made mounds located in the floodplain of the Ouachita River near Monroe in northern Louisiana, United States. Watson Brake consists of an oval formation of eleven mounds from three to 25 feet (7.6 m) in height, connected by ridges to form an oval nearly 900 feet (270 m) across.

Watson Brake's dating is 1900 years before the better-known Poverty Point in Louisiana, begun about 1500 BCE and previously thought to be the earliest mound site in North America. In the Americas, mound building started at an early date.

The discovery and dating of Watson Brake as a Middle Archaic site demonstrate that the pre-agricultural, pre-ceramic, indigenous cultures within the territory of the present-day United States were much more complex than previously thought. While primarily hunter-gatherers, they were able to plan and organize large work forces over centuries to accomplish the complex mound and ridge constructions. Monumental constructions has marked the rise of social complexity world-wide. The earthen mounds of Eastern North America are linked to mankind's monument tradition.