Cahokia Research Paper

The Cahokia civilization was located in current day Missouri. The city was inhabited by 50 communties and spanned over 2,200 acres. The city flourished from 700 CE to 1400 CE. The Cahokians started abandoning their city by the 1200s and by the 1400 it was almost completely deserted. They are famous for build Earth Mounds, the tallest one standing at 100 feet tall.

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

had to prepare and cook the food that the men obtained.   Most of the time, they

|1500 CE |Early Woodland Period. Use of pottery and building of earth tombs emerges especially in the Mississippi |

dedicated farm women. They took care of all of the food, clothing and just about anything else

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

The paleolithic civilizations the early period of human history from 2,500,00 through 10,000 B.C. Neolithic civilizations begun to

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

The first time I heard about the Mound Builders, which was in this class, these people seemed like a very primitive group. What was so exciting about having the skill of piling up a bunch of dirt. Then I was able to see some of these mounds and the scale was nothing I had imagined. These mounds were huge and also contained distinct structural shapes. Tombs, houses, and religious structures were constructed in or on top of the mounds. What made the edifices even more amazing was the time period they were built. Constructed all the way back to 3000 B.C., the mounds rivaled the most advanced engineering techniques in the world.

The children of the household worked chores around the farm. Boys would plant and harvest the crops while the girls worked in the house much as tailoring clothes and cooking. Few families preferred education over farming. However, in large cities like New York and Philadelphia, male children would learn as apprentices. Women would worked in the clothing business.

The Cahokian Chief is a ruler of our Mississippian civilization. The political structure that Cahokia operates under is a chiefdom in which the chief is a hereditary leader over a group of towns. Chiefdoms are based on the communal culture of gift-giving and commercial links and trade routes and this is what supports our city. The chief has the most power over us – he controls our land and economy and the rest of us are considered subordinate to our chief. A part of the chief’s job is to organize us through different obligations such as tribute, shared labor, and rituals. We tend to the fertile land, which provides us with an abundance of maize, beans, and squash. The land is so fertile along the Mississippian river where we live; we attribute the abundance of maize to our corn goddess. The agriculture we tend to is delivered to the chief and to neighboring communities whether it is a gift or a debt. The chief is so powerful that most of the communities nearby tend to owe our chief tribute or to pay off a debt.

They did much of the planting and gathering, and Boulding states that women probably even constructed the mud-houses in the early villages. In this horticulture society, children also helped women. They carryed out many chores on the farm, such as taking care of animals and gathering grain. These roles would change as farming shifted to agriculture proper.

Cahokia is arguably one of the most influential cities in its time. Although there is little known about Cahokia, aspects of their culture (like games, artifacts, and religious aspects) can be found throughout the Americas. If so much of the area had not been bulldozed before being excavated, we may have known more about the area. Cahokia had such an impact during its time, traces of Cahokia can be found in other communities such as the Osage, Pawnee, and many more.

Behind each house was a garden or small plot of land. The common fields surrounding the village were some distance away, divided into strips and separated by twigs and pieces of unplowed land. Past the open fields was the waste, the uncultivated land which provided grazing land for the cattle, sheep and pigs and also fuel and timber for building.11 Bread was the staple item of the peasant diet. Eating meat was either a rare or nonexistent occurrence. Peasants ate whatever they grew: grains and a small percent of vegetables and potatoes. Barley and oats were made into both food and drink for consuming. The good grains, the meat from the animals, and the tasty fruits and vegetables went to either the lords or to the upper classes.12 “The peasant’s housing was as basic as his diet.” Most houses consisted of two rooms, one for living and one for sleeping. The walls were constructed of clay or straw supported by wooden frames. The roofs were thatched and animals were free to wander in and out. The smells of animals, sweat and waste were anything but pleasant and were more than plentiful.Water was gathered from an outside well or spring and there was no form of sanitation leading to a low level of personal