Archaeologist explores a 5000-year-old Site in Savannah, Georgia

Archaeologist Ed Barnhart explores one of the oldest known mounds in North America—the mysterious Bilbo Mound hidden in Savannah, Georgia. Carbon dating suggests the site could be as old as 3545 BCE, making it older than Poverty Point and Watson Brake. Excavations revealed some of the earliest ceramics in North America, habitation evidence, and even signs of early civil engineering with a canal connecting the mound to the Savannah River.

In this video, we trace the history of Bilbo Mound, its excavations by famous archaeologists, the unique role it plays in the evolution of mound-building in North America, and my on-the-ground attempt to locate this forgotten site.

If you’re fascinated by ancient civilizations, archaeology, and hidden history, this is one discovery you won’t want to miss.

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📖 Chapters

00:00 – Intro: The hunt for America’s oldest mound
00:28 – Discovering Bilbo Mound in Savannah, GA
01:16 – Who excavated Bilbo & why it matters
01:43 – Carbon dating results: as old as 3545 BCE
02:13 – Oldest ceramics in North America
02:40 – From shell mounds to pyramids: the evolution explained
04:14 – Bilbo as America’s first civil engineering site
04:59 – Searching Savannah museums for Bilbo’s history
06:33 – Trek through Savannah’s swamp to find the site
07:27 – Standing near the oldest mound in the Americas
08:29 – Later excavations & contested dates
09:41 – Preserving Bilbo Mound for the future
10:08 – Why Savannah should turn it into a park
10:29 – Patreon & closing thoughts