An anthropologist examines a Native American city that flourished along the Mississippi River near present-day St. Louis almost 1,000 years ago, describing evidence of a once powerful society that had been abandoned by 1400. Reprint.
An anthropologist explains what is knowable or can be discerned about the ancient city of Cahokia, which was built over a thousand years ago by Native Americans and which is clear evidence of an advanced civilization in the region. With large pyramid-like mounds made of earth, and with temples, living quarters, and civil administration buildings, the city was a thriving center for about 200 years, says Timothy Pauketat, and it had a complex system of villages surrounding it. Pauketat speculates that the founding of the city coincided with unusual night sky activity relating to a supernova , but why it ceased he does not know. He does tell us it was, in modern times, plundered, plowed over, and turned to urban development. Nevertheless, he presents a large amount of archaeological evidence and artifacts to put the pieces of the puzzle together.
- Genre: History, Social Science
- Subgenre: Native American, Archaeology
- Publisher: Penguin Group USA
- Pages: 194
- Edition: Reprint
- Language: English
- Format: paperback
- Release Date: July 27, 2010
- Date Published: July 27, 2010
- Author: Timothy R. Pauketat