History of Baton Rouge - Prehistory

Prehistory

From artifacts found in former settlements along the Mississippi, Comite, and Amite rivers, archaeologists have dated early habitation of the Baton Rouge area to 8000 B.C. The three earthwork mounds remaining in the city (two are now surrounded by the Louisiana State University campus) were built about 5000-3500 BC by later indigenous peoples of more complex cultures. The mounds were not used for burials, but researchers believe they had religious and social purposes. Their descendants were ancestors to the historic tribes.