Cahokia Mounds

Read excerpt # 3 The Anasazi: Chaco Canyon and Mesa Verde and excerpt # 4 The Mississippians: Cahokia and Moundville (pp.29-33) by following the link Pre-Columbian America (Learner.org). Type responses to the following questions on Google Doc and save.

In addition, each group was descended from a very large and powerful tribe that had occupied their land before them. The Mississippi River tribes of the 1400s were descended from the powerful tribe of Cahokia, or the mound-builders. When Cahokia began to decline in the 1350s (possibly due to climate change, more specifically a sudden drop in temperature), the group formed subdivisions with different leaders who fought for power over the large tribe. Eventually, many of these subgroups moved to different parts of the river with their families and a few others, forming small villages of 500 to 2,000 people. The result was many Mississippi River tribes living near each other, but not necessarily in harmony with each other. Though these groups would trade with each other and were not openly hostile, they never managed to regain the unity that the Cahokia tribe had possessed, and that the Pueblo had as well. The unity of the Pueblo tribes is due at least in part to the powerful tribe that existed before them, as well. While the Cahokia devolved into many separate tribes, creating a power struggle that fractured the formerly strong tribe into several small rival tribes, the group who had occupied the land where the Pueblos lived, the Anasazi, seemed to have abandoned their home entirely. So when the Pueblo began to move in, they could start from scratch and grow together. They had no history with each other, and so could form mutually beneficial relationships without the prejudices held by the former members of the Cahokia tribe. Though the Pueblo people were subdivided into many different tribes, the tribes were on good terms and stayed connected through a variety of factors, leading to a more developed sense of unity than the Mississippi River Valley tribes

Cahokia is an ancient city established around c. 700-1500. It was a city built along the entire Mississippi River. It was a major city with 20,000-30,000 people and was a major trade center. It had a social structure set up by royalty, a Theocracy. Mesa Verde on the other hand was inhabited by the Anasazi in c.1100-1300. It was built mostly under cliffs and housed thousands. They were both similar in the time periods they inhabited and both had over thousands of people. Both planted corn but the Anasazi planted the three sister crops together while the people of Cahokia main crop was corn. Both societies had taken notice of the ancient supernova of 1054. This let scientist know that both civilization inhabited around such period. Also, showed

As Indian groups started to settle in the Mississippi floodplain, their cultures and political systems began to intertwine, creating a complex sociopolitical structure (Page, 70). The largest polity to arise out of this area, known as the American Bottom, was Cahokia. At its height, it resembled a city, extending over five square miles, mounds and structures that towered over smaller dwellings, and a population, that some believe to have been the largest, north of Mexico, for its time (Page, 70). Estimates predict several thousand lived at the site of Cahokia, many of them elites, whose particular talents or skills, earned them the privileged title (Pauketat). Beyond its boundaries were smaller groups and

Ever since ancient times, humans have used their uniquely creative minds to organize and construct awe-inspiring architecture. Our planet, once an empty canvas for human innovation, is now coated with manmade constructions. But before towering skyscrapers, grand hotels, and modern chapels came into existence, the world was bejeweled with ancient forms of engineering. Two of the more popular constructions from the ancient world include Stonehenge and the Egyptian pyramids at Giza. These incredible megaliths are seemingly very different, but share various similarities, and both help archaeologists gain insight to the religious beliefs and socio-political organization of the people who constructed them.

Chaco Canyon, located in what is New Mexico today, closer to Arizona, is one of the archeological sites with many hypothesis and conclusions full of contradiction because of its complexity of what was happening there during Chaco’s economical peak. It is one of the prehistorical places that hold the history of the humans and how complex the organization between social, religious and economical was. The remains of the amazing tall and complex buildings surrounded with roads helped the archeologists to hypothesize the use of those buildings and those roads that surrounded them.

The Cahokia Indians were settled near modern-day St. Louis, Missouri close to the Mississippi River. Some archaeologist believe that the Cahokia once had 20,000 Natives and over 100 mounds in their village. The reason they believe in these outstanding growth in people was the land around them. Situated with land with great

Located in present day Collinsville, Illinois is Cahokia Mounds State Historic Site, which was once home to the largest city north of Mexico from 700 to 1400 A.D. Settled by the Mississippian people, today their decline remains a mystery. First visited in 1811 by traveler Henry Brackenridge and considered the “discoverer of Cahokia” only in the sense that he wrote several papers and articles about the findings to the public’s attention. After walking around the mounds, Brackenridge described that the locations of the last inhabitants were clearly visible to him, as were fragments of their tools and utensils. Many extensive archeological excavations and several case study theories have come about through the years as to why this magnificent ancient metropolis faced such demise.

The Enlightened Archaeologist – an article authored by Jeffrey Hantman and Gary Dunham chronicles Thomas Jefferson’s investigation of the Indian burial mound located on the South Fork of the Rivanna River in the 18th century. The site excavated by Jefferson, however, is no longer visible, most likely due to dissipation by inevitable natural occurrences (I.E. excessive rainfall, flooding rivers, etc.) or human activity such as farming. The “Father of American Archaeology” correctly predicts the latter in his book, Notes on the State of Virginia, in which he states, mounds “…put under cultivation are much reduced in their height, and spread in width, by the plough, and will probably disappear in time” (1787). Fortunately for Archaeologists of the late 20th century (1988) an Indian burial mound identical to that of the one Jefferson described in his book was uncovered just 14 miles from the South Fork of the Rivanna River.

Many of the local villages shared in the same customs as the Cahokians, because of the same beliefs one could easily see a centralized city forming. The construction of modern developments, makes it difficult to know what Cahokia was like at its height. Because a modern highway system is now in the same spot of Cahokia, archeologists often have trouble doing work. Though learning about the scope of Cahokia may be difficult, archaeology research can still show us many things, one of which was the idea of outdoor games. Games played a very important role in the social

However, this isn’t Indiana Jones conducting archaeology properly, but rather the Nazi’s. When Indiana Jones came to the lost city of Tanis, the Nazi’s were having the Egyptian site excavated by hundreds of people. This site had to have been properly funded and to have used a survey strategy as they were very close to the location as a result of proper research and clues from the medallion. Their site featured camp sites, carts, and variety of digging tools. In the brief depiction of the site it looked like the Nazi’s used vertical excavation as they have dug a substantial way into the ground in order to try and recover the ark. In terms of tools I noticed they were only using shovels, and then using baskets to clean up the dirt. The one thing that I did notice that was not an accurate portrayal was how people were digging. They were digging with large shovels and digging out large scoops of dirt in the process. In reality, archaeologists tend to use smaller tools to look for artifacts and be much more precise with their digs. However, this may have been the case since they seemed to be only looking for the ark. A true archaeological dig would have paid attention to the small pieces of pottery and other small artifacts that would have been on site, looking to document the past rather to just find one piece of treasure. Lastly, the lost city of Tanis looks like it was a State based on the labor investment of the monument to keep the lost ark a

Courthouse, and the State Supreme Court” (Brunius 16). Many people, including scholars, historians, archaeologists and members of the African-American community consider the African Burial Ground Project “the nation’s most significant archaeological find of the century” (Brunius 16). Usually GSA is able to handle their responsibilities with federal properties, but they are not doing a good job with this project. Unfortunately, the GSA has significantly mishandled the African Burial Ground Project. As the overseers of this project, the GSA is responsible for the project’s insufficient funds and the under-skilled archaeological team who damaged many artifacts. The multitude of information that the African Burial Ground holds presents a priceless opportunity to learn about the lives and conditions of slaves living in the North, and it is therefore time to fully fund this project.

- Hopi and Zuni in AZ and NM built large planned towns and traded as far as Miss R and Mexico

Caddoan Mississippian peoples, irregardlesss of differences, were still linked to the larger Mississippian world to the east and other cultures to the southwest by trade networks which traversed the North American continent. Artifacts found in Craig Mound at the Spiro site in the Arkansas River Valley encompassed such items as: basketry, copper, woven fabric, lace, feathers, fur, and carved stone statues. Some artifacts originated as far away as Cahokia in Illinois, Etowah and Ocmulgee in Georgia, and Moundville in Alabama. Many items displayed the ornate symbolism of the Southeastern Ceremonial Complex, a multiregional and pan-linguistic trade and religious network. Exotic material discovered at Caddoan Mississippian sites included colored

Sannai- Maruyama was a long-term settlement located in Aomori Prefecture in northern Japan. The site is made up of over 500 pit-dwellings measuring around 3-4 meters in diameter, adult burial pits, child burial jars, and pits for storage and clay mining. The pits are significant because they showed archaeologists that the inhabitants were not yet sedentary and used these pits to hide food before leaving the area. There is also roads and artifacts including pottery, clay figurines, digging sticks, tools and woven baskets and clothing (1) which is evidence to archaeologists that the area was later settled and inhabited.