Cahokia: Mississippian Metropolis 

Hi! I'm an archaeology student and the Eastern Woodlands has been one of my focuses since before I even got into college. I think this is honestly one of the most detailed and well-researched Mississippian history education videos on RU-vid! It goes into a lot more in facts and nuance than most people care to bother. Which is why I really hate to give nitpicks in my thoughts and comments, which there are a lot of but also a lot of stuff I liked as well: - 4:27 You really can't talk about the Mississippians without talking about the Hopewell and their antecedents, but I guess you may have videos on that. There's a lot of cultural continuity that needs going over. - 5:30 We don't know if corn is thanks to the Medieval Warm Period or if the climate phenomenon exactly had an effect in the American Bottom; it could be that a combination of a cold-hardy variety of maize appeared alongside a social revolution that incorporated it. We do know that pre-800-900 maize in the upper Mississippi has been ruled out recently, though, which is more a confirmation of previous consensus. - 6:24 Ah, classic Pauketat. He does a lot of great and hard empirical work, but he's also known to throw stuff like that out there, without necessarily any evidence, just to get people thinking. - 7:15 Good mentioning on the reorganizing of Cahokia. It was a really big deal. - 7:25 It's probably worth clarifying mounds were not initially covered in grass. Mississippian mounds had an outer layer of brightly colored clay to seal the whole structure from moisture. Although only a few Cahokian mounds were excavated with this part of the stratigraphy recorded in detail, it's probably the case here too (and some mounds were given a cap of black clay, presumably to render it decommissioned). - 8:22 Which _also_ doesn't necessarily exist, something else that's fun to point out to people. There was a Tula (which is also confounded by Nahuas calling every big important city a "Tollan") and it was very likely an important regional center in the Valley of Mexico, but the older narratives of a massive Mexico-spanning empire are very much overblown and cultural similarities are better explained by the interconnected intercultural movements and cultural revolution(s) spurred by Epiclassic migrations, resulting in what Mesoamericanists now dub the International style. This actually has origins _before_ Tula's construction. - 9:17 Is that a Cahokia and the Hinterlands reference? ;) - 12:55 Nuanced takes on symbolism, nice. - 13:40 Also citing Tim Pauketat, PBS' Cities in the Sky documentary said Cahokia's city grid is aligned to both the solstices and the lunar standstills which form the alignment points. But I don't know which one of Pauketat's works they're drawing from. - 15:52 Yeah there's actually a lot of debate on how many terraces Monks' Mound originally had. What is agreed on is that it used to be one single pyramidal platform and then was buttressed with at least one additional platform (the First Terrace). Support for the Second Terrace being a real thing, at least after a potential initial slump, was confirmed by the presence of clay half-sphere bulkheads providing strengthening support. The Fourth Terrace, however, did not seem to exist at the same time as the Major Structure (the uncreatively named big building on top that seems to be neither temple nor house). Instead, it was constructed after the Major Structure was demolished and a new, smaller building that more clearly seems to be a temple/charnel house was put up. There's also a few other odd buildings occupying the northern half of the summit alongside Major Structure, but the southern half is actually still mostly unexcavated even though that's where Nelson Reed thinks that's where the actual ruler(s)' house(s) could have been. - 16:34 Monks' Mound and other mounds start out as a large core filled with the readily available "gumbo clay" of the riverbeds of the American Bottom; it's everywhere, but it also has a very bad problem with keeping its shape, expanding when wet and contracting when dry. This isn't usually good for a foundation, but it works just fine if the moisture can be controlled. The core can be covered in layers of silt, sand, gravel and other forms of clay to drain the excess moisture and also keep too much from drying out. The baseline moisture level can then be determined largely through the water table but with added layers of stability for short-term changes. For some mounds, including parts of MM, clay or silty-clay can be used to create form-holding bulkheads for the inclusion of other fill. Then there are the added layers of brightly colored clay whose reasons aren't completely known; they could represent different stages or fill some cosmological purpose. And the outer layers of mounds weren't even basketfuls at all, rather entire "blocks" of cut sod, placed turf-side down to allow the root systems to grip onto the upper layers. This step provided an immense amount of shape retention and for steep surfaces to be built. After that, a veneer of visually appealing clay can be applied. - 17:05 This is an unfair assumption. Mounds in general are meant to undergo maintenance in their active life as part of a purpose-built social institution, but after abandonment can still retain their form a lot longer than many European earthworks. After Cahokia was abandoned, trees and shrubs began growing on its surface and the root systems overturned most of the earlier stabilizing structures. But they, in turn, kept the mound mostly intact throughout time. The significant majority of the slumping and degradation occurred after the 50s, when the trees were removed and the water table lowered due to all the well digging happening in St. Louis. Without access to groundwater, MM's gumbo clay core shrunk. With grass in place of trees digging their roots in and all previous waterproofing structures gone, the mound was also vulnerable to outside moisture. So when bad storms started to come MM filled right back up and started shaking apart. - 17:22 Sometimes I forget that barrow/borrow is one of those regional things. - 24:05 The existence of this sheer quantity of shell beads is also how we know professional craft specialization at Cahokia may well have been a thing. It takes five hours to drill ONE marine shell bead, and the flint microdrill bits have to be replaced every 15 minutes. About 153,710 person-hours of work were put into their production. - 24:31 Here the contexts of the Mound 72 burials are being mixed up. While I understand the need for a quick summary, the way it's worded jumbles the burials together meanwhile each of their unique situations are vastly different and important in their own parts. - 25:10 "Sacrifice" is something that's easy to apply to ancient American contexts with little discretion. In this case, many of the upper layer burials may well have been some form of retainer sacrifice as seen with the Natchez (or Mesopotamia for that matter). But as for the hundreds of people below those burials who don't seem to have been given any respect in death, Tim Pauketat believes they actually represent a much more political-based execution. - 25:38 That's only true of the smaller portion of the honored dead at the various features, but the ones violently killed below them were ALL local and probably represented members of some kind of distinct community within Cahokia. Hence Pauketat's interpretation of some kind of potential revolution, especially since it coincided with the reconstruction of Cahokia. - 28:52 yay for mentioning the continuance of EAC crops :) - 29:45 Wattle and daub is also found all around the world. Those old medieval-ish timber frame houses in Europe are basically the same concept. - 29:52 omg, going into the house shapes 😩I think a lot of sources think the T-shaped buildings had an elite context to them, coinciding with ethnographic reports, and there are also L-shaped buildings which may have been for storage. The Mound 34 copper workshop at Cahokia also had an irregular shape. - 35:25 Ayy this is a pretty good goods overview, but it leaves out one of the most commonly exchanged items in the Middle Mississippian sphere: hoe blades, made from Mill Creek chert! Chert from Mill Creek had the advantages of being incredibly strong and durable, albeit needing more skill to work. The nature of Mill Creek's relation to Cahokia is frequently debated but there is a chance Cahokia was directly controlling or commissioning Mill Creek for production. - 37:30 One of the arguments for Aztalan being a Cahokian outpost is its prime location as a collection and distribution center for both perishable and non-perishable goods. Other places like the Rockland site are also thought to have served this purpose. - 41:19 good recent research on deforestation; in hindsight it is a lot to assume a society born into millennia of forest management would forget how to sustainably harvest wood, and that this would affect them more than other societies in similar situations And lastly (in the next comment)...

I feel like Cahokia not being taught in most American history classes is a crime.

Cool how the biggest ancient city in the U.S. was near St. Louis. This country had a whole history before Columbus that we rarely heard about in school.

I grew up close to the mounds. The Cahokia Mounds are a special place and should be treated as such. This mound complex is one of the last we have in the area after the settlers destroyed the others. It's worth studying and preserving.

I’m originally from Southwestern Illinois. Years ago one of my aunts found a book in her basement from the 1920s about Cahokia. It contains detailed photos and maps. She gave it to me because of my interest in that area and archaeology.

It’s one of the only UNESCO World Heritage Sites in the continental US, that’s how important the site is to world history.

The history of North American pre-Columbian Indians has been grossly understated. I've always known natives inhabited what is now the US and Canada, but I thought they were largely nomadic or simply hunter gatherers or at best subsistence farmers in very small communities. To know there were probably millions of people who covered the land in the whole of the area is mind blowing.

Great video. Being British I haven’t been taught much pre Colombian American history and thus was pleasantly surprised to learn about the amazing developments occurring. While aware of great civilisations in central and South America I was unaware of any major cities in the north and was thus amazed and astounded to learn about this great city. It’s great learning how much you do not know and having the chance to explore so much.

We lived in St. Louis for years. It is absolutely amazing how few people, even local people, know much about Cahokia. GO SEE IT if you are ever in the area. It is just astoundingly interesting. Years ago, before the fabulous museum that is now there, my young family visited Cahokia on a blistering hot day in July (July in St. Louis is just miserable) and we entered a small reconstructed Cahokian dwelling house. Cahokian houses are dug into the ground a few feet. It was cool, pleasant. I knew then that those people were geniuses. The more I learn about Cahokia the more I want to know.

Unfortunately we still haven't learned our lesson because a mound in Fenton missouri was destroyed to build a Walmart not that long ago so for everyone out there who loves this stuff need to realize we must also fight for it on behalf of native Americans and there contribution to the human story

Been to Cahokia a couple times, I live in the region but still a bit of a drive. Really pretty place. I still remember my dad saying "Maybe they just built up to see something not flat?"

I live within 45 minutes of this. The amount of arrow heads and practice targets we find in the local farming fields is pretty impressive!

fertile american bottom 🥺🥺🥺

YESS! I've been waiting to see Cahokia since i started following your channel 8 months ago. I live in St. Louis and that site is undeniably where I got my love for an fascination with Native American cultures as a little kid. Thank you so much!

The most disgusting part of this to me is that, to this day, public schools in the USA do not teach children that these were large civilizations who built cities. They maybe give a cursory paragraph or two that Missipian Native Americans built mounds and the Pueblo Native Culture built houses. They persist in teaching Native Americans were mostly tribal and migratory for their entire history (which was only mostly true of plains tribes and not true for the tribes on the East Coast and Mississipi areas). Glad to find this channel!

Cahokia was one of those semi-local sites that I learned about by complete accident as a teenager and it completely captivated me. I fondly remember speculating about how a massive native empire existed in the heart of the country and the fact that its people seemingly vanished without a trace before any European explorers could explore the area continued to fuel my wild imagination. Certain near the top of my list of places to visit if I ever stumble upon a time machine.

Praise be! Ancent Americas blesses us with another video! Growing up in Eastern Europe, I've basically learnt that the entire New World was stuck in Stone Age, ranging from the Mesolithic to the Neolithic. Only later, through reading proper literature, did I discover how wrong that image was, along with all the sweeping generalizations found in the textbooks I was fed when young. Cahokia, I think, stands as a perfect example of that. It's one-of-a-kind complex, the remains of a similarily unique culture, and a very advanced one at that.

I don't understand how more people aren't interested in pre-colonial America. It was a completely different place culturally and ecologically. The amount of meaningful information all of us have lost thanks to ignorance, stubbornness, and laziness is absolutely heart-wrenching.

Listening to this description, my instinct is that Cahokia was an extremely powerful imperial capital. Possibly the most powerful empire in North America. So much of the physical description and archeological evidence for a rapid rise of power makes me see many parallels with the rise and fall of Rome, Assyria, and many other great "Old World" empires. It's too bad there are no written records or surviving oral traditions. I'm sure it would be an amazing story!

I’m originally from Mississippi the state and I can remember seeing mounds growing up driving down the Natchez Trace and just visiting them while driving around the state. We also used to walk creek beds and find shards of pottery and arrowheads. I still have some of both. The arrowheads are all unique made from different color and types of rocks and all made in different shapes(some shorter and fatter and some longer and skinnier like spear points), and some of the pottery has a simple u shape almost stenciled around the rim. Would love to go back soon and do some more exploring.

I live in Peoria Illinois about two or three hours from Cahokia (depending how fast I’m going lol). Not to many people here know about this enormous cultural sight that’s so close to us. I can not wait to show people this video so it can help them understand how aw inspiring of a structure monks mound is and the culture of Cahokia

I am endlessly fascinated by Mississippian culture, to the point that if there was more easily accessible material on it I would probably be more obsessed with it than Mesoamerica (and yeah, went and ordered that book you recommended right away). The lack of oral history about this haunts me, because it just makes me think about how a *lot* or oral histories were lost post-contact because of disruptions due to displacement and disease (disease especially since the elderly - y'know, the people who tend to keep stories - would've been effected the most). So who know what was lost. Certainly a lot about Mississippian culture in general, if not about Cahokia specifically...

I'm sad that I didn't get the notification for this. As a recent anthropology grad who did their final project over Chaokia and the Mississippian culture I would have loved to watched this the day it came out. Well, gonna binge it now here's my late welcome back!

I'm a huge fan of this channel. I would like to add, here in Louisiana there's a mound known as Watson brake. Its actually not far from my house. It's owned by a few different siblings. A few of them want archeological studies done to the mound and one or two doesn't. Well, the Gentry family has always let me and my siblings duck hunt and fish near the mounds off the river. Even though they aren't cleared and there is alot of shrubbery and overgrown foliage you can still see the one mound coming out and towering above the forrest floor stretching up to the height of a few of the pines. The mound is apparently also the oldest mound in North America as well.

As a Mexican, I'm profoundly impressed but just as intrigued by this civilization as they seemingly (I know they don't, but it's fascinating the similarity nonetheless!) share some mothifs with the Nahua such as the Ehécatl-Quetzálcoatl Mask and yet, their presence in North America is evident with the links to the Thunderbirds... I'd love to know more about the Thunderbirds since they seem to be just as omnipresent there as the Feathered Serpent across Central America!! OH, also... Is there any kind of relationship between the Cahokia Civilization and the myth of the Ani-Kutani from Cherokee Legends?

Those "wattle and dobb" houses with wall trenches can be found all over the Dutch province of Drenthe. Many people lived in such houses untill the 19th century, because the province was so poor. In the Netherlands, we call them "plaggenhutten".

What is amazing to me is this history was NEVER taught when I was in school. I am happy to watch and listen and learn. Thank you!

I’m an anthropology major with an emphasis in Native American studies. Excellent content!! Btw, you should consider a future episode on Spiro Mounds, a Caddoan-Mississippian ceremonial complex along the Arkansas River. Also considered the farthest western satellite within the Mississippian ideological sphere (that we know of) I’m from the area, hence the plug.

You and Mr. Fosaaen dropping Cahokia videos back to back. You spoil us. It's mind boggling to me how little we know. The human sacrificing is such an intriguing mystery. I would bet they were captives from other tribes but all we have is speculation. American history is so underrated and you always put a smile on my face.

As a geography enthusiast, I'm surprised to learn a geography term from you! It's too bad we don't use "American Bottom," or even "the American Bottoms," more widely. It's cool to think about all the the fertile flood plains the Mississippi affords. I wonder if this area could be fit to be called the "Upper Mississippi Delta," just as the (Lower Inland) Mississippi Delta is confusingly referred to as a delta or "the Delta," even though it is upland from the true delta on the Gulf Coast. Cahokia seems to occupy the sweet spot that Yangzhou or the Inland Niger Delta cities occupy, a geographic area that future trendy anarcho-archaeologists and James Scott and co. might investigate. Brb, reading about chunkey.

Top-notch job. This is easily the best overview of Cahokia I have seen. Outstanding scholarship and work.

I grew up in Moundville, AL. We were taught that out site was the largest and most important site of the mound building culture. Of course I learned about magnificent Cahokia later in life and was floored by it. Moundville is still an impressive site and I would love for you to do a video on it sometime. I did see one comment below regarding something I have pondered for years but seen no scholarly work on. Even as a kid I thought the mounds at Moundville and the art found there was strikingly similar to Central American culture. I figured they built their pyramids out of dirt and clay because they didn't have access to stone. But is there a solid connection between the cultures? Was there a migration? Trade of ideas? If anyone knows of any solid research to either support of refute a connection please let me know.

Wait, I want to know about Aztalan! Just kidding. Great video! Loved the depth you went into regarding the homes and communities along with the possible reasons for the decline. Had a good time sharing the experience with you!

I always tell people I talk to about how my ancestors had mega cities and large populations in small areas. Some don’t believe cause all they’ve known is we have been hunter gather’s. Great video as always! Keep up the inspirational work

Thank you for not just showing one image every 30 minutes and utilizing visuals, earned a like.

I recall visiting the Cahokia mounds site in the 1960's and '70s with my father, who was a professor of anthropology in Chicago. I found it fascinating and so glad I came across this channel!

I really appreciate that this channel takes the time to explain the scientific reasoning behind the archaeological knowledge, be it soil stratification, information from pollen, etc, rather than just making broad statements with the expectation viewers will just accept it as fact. Regarding the general video content the voiceovers, images, editing, and themes are all excellent, and as an Iowan I am a sucker for any video with corn. I've been waiting for a video about Cahokia and Mississippians since I first found this channel. I'm very interested in Medieval History (~500 CE to ~1500 CE) and it always irritates me when I'm discussing this time period with people who claim that North America had no extensive cultures or civilizations like their contemporaries in Central or South America. It's a part of history that is not taught nearly as much as it should be, especially in the United States, and hopefully this video and your channel continues to educate people on these amazing historical groups.

I visited cahokia over this past summer and its really underrated. Theres a good collection of artifacts and informational materials in the visitor center and the tour guide we got was very knowledgeable about the site and we had a good conversation about how extensive the trade routes went where goods from the coast and even OBSIDIAN tools from either mesoamerica or from yellowstone made their way to Cahokia. Definitely recommend more people check it out

Attended a field trip there in 3-4 grade, really moved me. Have been back many times, my children always liked it. Just a place of wonder and awe.

The worst part is that there are no written records. These people could have had a mythology as extensive and interesting as Greek and Egyptian mythology but we’ll never know it.

I’ve listened to everything I can find on Cahokia for the last several years and this is by far the best yet. Absolutely love it and hope that the topics that are called out as possible additional episodes are made in the near future. Hats off, this great work and very valuable to anyone interested in this fascinating subject.

I recently came across the statement that the Yuchee (or Uche) people claim to be descendants of the builders of Cahokia. The historic Yuchee lived in the western foothills of the Appalachians and definitely had a Mississippian culture. Their language survives, but is not linked to any other known language

9:04 there are one or two mounds left on the st. Louis side of the mississippi. You can see one right off highway 55 near Chippewa. My family always knew it as sugarloaf mound. There was a house on top of it for many years, but the Osage nation fought a lengthy legal battle to have the house demolished and take ownership of the mound.

Thank you for the additional insight. I just returned from a trip to the Mid-West and Cahokia was the first site on my list. Our family use to hold reunions at the park within the mounds. I use to play on Monks Mound. I returned with a greater appreciation for what was underneath my feet. I was elated to see the interpretative center present although one was not when I was a kid. Many of my friends near Cahokia have no idea as to its significance. I hope that our education system recognizes the need to acknowledge this site.

So cool. I visited and climbed Monks Mound on a school field trip in 9th grade back in the mid 70’s. There were no stairs then. Your presentation was much more detailed than the information we learned in school.

I grew up right next to Cahokia Mounds, I've been fascinated by them for years. As a kid my grandpa used to sled down Monks Mound during the winter.

As a half Choctaw we are mound builder's and descended from the Mississippians

I was raised in DuQuoin, Illinois, about an hour from Cahokia, and have been past Cahokia many times, although I have never stopped. Everybody in that area is familiar with Cahokia Downs.

Was just speaking with Harry Hubbard today in fact. He’s inSo Illinois finding artifacts and exploring ancient areas and I’m in St Louis exploring mounds and finding artifacts. Many ancient wonders to be found

Great content as always! Previous to finding this channel I wasn't aware there were cities like these north of Mesoamerica. Here where I'm from we are never taught these cultures even existed, when learning about indigenous peoples we learn mostly about Mesoamerica, Andean and local cultures like the Guarani and the Mapuche. Also we ought to appreciate maize, and grain crops in general, more. They are the backbone of civilization!

Cahokia is a good lesson to modern cities. Some of the things in Cahokia still persists in the cities we have today.

You bring your basket of dirt You spread it on the ground You stomp it with your feet And compact it all around You do the Cohokia-Pokia and you build yourself a mound That's what it's all about!

Grew up here and later the kids and I would go there on Sunday mornings to eat breakfast and fly kites from the large mound. There's a museum there that's a must see.

Been waiting for a good Mississippian culture video, and you didnt disappoint. Great as always!

Living near Poverty Point in Louisiana, I was fortunate to be able to spend time walking, looking and imagining what the area was like a coupla thousand years ago. Also spent time when the LSU Archeology folks were here doing some excavating. Later being able to see the displays at the site's Center. Used to ride my small dirt bike over and spend the day with the students on digs. Even got to take home some of their culled items from the digs.

That was fun to watch I really enjoyed it ,I have been reading up on a huge settlement of Native Americans . The Etzanoa settlement was populated by the Rayados a Wichita sub-tribe lasted around 1500 to 1720, had a population of at least 12,000 located in S. E Kansas. Probably the second largest settlement in North America of Native Americans.

Finally! This is so underappreciated in NA.

Great video! I was staying in St Louis for work a number of years ago and drove over to Cahokia one weekend. It was amazing seeing the mounds and learning a bit about the "mound builder" culture in the United States.

I grew up in Indiana, the Mound builders always interested me, as we have mounds in Indiana and Ohio as well, I think the mounds were a way of protecting the inhabitants from floods..

I wish there were channels like this for ancient cultures outside of America too. I mean there are a lot of good ones but none has the perfect package that this channel offers. Your videos are detailed, concise, with good visuals and graphics and, most importantly, they keep you interested on the topic without overly dramatizing historical facts. Thanks for your amazing work!

Thank you for doing what you do. I sadly only really know much about Eurasian history but you doing these videos is helping me with American history

Very well researched and presented! Your channel deserves every view it gets and more.

It’s always so awesome to see a new video from you! Great work, as always!

Love learning about ancient cultures the world over and when I tell you when I first found this channel I was curled up watching every video like I was on a Netflix binge

I always get excited when I see one of your new videos ready to watch. All of your videos are informative and entertaining. I really appreciate the effort you put in. The maps, images of artifacts and old pictures are really great for immersion and visual learners. You are on my short list of channels I recommend. Thanks

What a fascinating presentation. Great narration, informative, interesting and entertaining. Well done.

I think you definitely bring up a good question about why there is no oral tradition of Cahokia. I think one of the things to discuss about Native American oral tradition is that according to Vine Deloria, oral tradition is not perceived in the way of Western Chronology. While Western History originated in a form chronologically of series of events that leads to present day in Native American Oral History, where it commonly focuses less on the events but more on the effects that happened because of a single event. As with all stories it is mythologized into oral tradition and to Vine Deloria is tied to the land, landmark, or location that the important event happened. To the Sioux the Battle of Little Bighorn is barely event recorded in Sioux history or event in its recorded history because it had little to do with their religion than the White Buffalo Woman because of a great role she played in Sioux culture and religion as well as the Black Hills. This would lead me to speculate that either the descendants lost its oral history due to moving and resettling in other areas of the Mississippi where there was no need for the oral histories of the Cahokia due to the fact, they no longer were related to environment that surrounded Cahokia. Or they deeply mythologized the migration or impact of the society by phrasing as Holy People, evil, etc. Or (and this a very big if) Cahokia more or less had no effect on the religion of the Mississippian people. To further speculate, Cahokia was not mainly a people but a city-state with a priest ruling class over a federation of people who lived at the city. Regardless as a Native American it is always fascinating to hear about cities in Pre-Columbian North America because it really shows how parallel people in the 900AD-1100 AD were close to their European counter parts. And to me it complicates and makes me even more curious on why there was no Grand State Institution in the North American outside of Mexico.

YES! I've been waiting for you to do an episode on Cahokia! Thank you for giving us a spot light on North American pre-Columbian cities and civilizations

Love this video. I learned about Cahokia during an archaeology class over a year ago. It's really a shame that so few people even know that these Mississippian cultures ever existed. Hopefully this video will help remedy that.

Discovering this channel is fresh air to my feed! Fantastic!!🙌

A very interesting history lesson about the early days of Cahokia. I have lived here (and still do) the better part of my life. I appreciate learning from those who have taken an interest in exploring and researching the beginnings of such a historical rich community. This video is just a start. There is a lot of French history in Cahokia from the 1700's and on. Thank you very much for taking the time to put all these pieces together into a very detailed learning experience.

Cahokia originally spelled Caouquias transliterated in French. In Aztec Nahuatl cahuaquias means those left behind. In my theory, I think the Aztec Mexica(Mehsheeka) and Quiche Maya are descended from Illinois Michigamea/Mihshikamia/Mexicamaya

The whole city imitates the Orien Constellation, complete with bow and phallus(mound 72)! Monks mound is the body. I just visited here this summer and I was so excited, but my copilot kept saying "It's just a pile of dirt???" LOL yea! That's why it's so astounding! 🤣

Super cool video, very informative and interesting! I went to Cahokia and loved it- such a fascinating site! I appreciate all the work and detail that went into this!

Thank you so much for this!! I visited a site connected to the Cahokia culture earlier this year in Wisconsin and I was dying to know more but all I could find was the same simple information that was on the info boards at the site. Your video is so well put together and gives me so much more supplementary information to what I learned a few months ago!

Cahokia. One of the great tragedies of American archaeology.

Awesome stuff! I’m a big fan of your work. I find it interesting that trade and commerce are so quickly dismissed as being central to Cahokia’s existence. To me when you look at this site, poverty point, teotihuacan, or Caral Suppe, more than any thing else these places seem to be trade hubs that have relationships with regions far and wide. Why is commerce always ignored in favour of religion as being the catalyst for civilization?

Appreciate this video! The book, 1491, about more recent archaeological ideas about North America (North of Mexico) will help most viewers round-out their ideas of who the native inhabitants really were. For one thing, native contentions that they've been around 40,000 years and MORE are finally being recognized. Though the book is ten years old or older by now, it still is a far better account than any that have gone before, I believe. The book doesn't do much about Cahokia as I recall, since it is a large overview of inhabitation spanning thousands of years. There is no doubt, however, that the population was far greater than anyone, other than natives themselves, has ever acknowledged.

Used to have family reunions near the park at Cohokia, Ill. and visited the mounds. Visit if you get the chance. Amazing construction.

Thank you for posting this. I’ve actually gotten into arguments and get met with surprise when I’ve talked about pre-Colombian cities in the US. People tend to have a hard time imagining the ancient people here as anything other than loosely connected nomads

Thank you for preserving some of this history for us.

Fantastic video, thank you so much for covering this in such great detail!!

This was very interesting. We recently visited Moundville, Alabama, and it sparked some interest in Mississippian culture. This was a fascinating look at Cahokia and helps us to get a little better understanding of Moundville.

Excellent vid as always. Genuinely curious as to how long you spend making these as the production quality and content is always fantastic.

I love your presentations! I know you've mentioned the Plum Bayou Culture of the Late Woodland and the site at "Toltec Mounds" in Arkansas - but I'd love to see you do a full episode on it. Extensive excavations have been done there that have revealed an amazing amount about the lives of these mound-builders.

A worthwhile way to experience the mounds is during their equinox sunrise observance from wood henge twice a year. I went this past March, and it was very beautiful to watch the sun emerge from where the lower terrace of Monks Mound starts its ascent to the upper terrace. I shot a cool timelapse of the event. Also, it's always great to hear Bill Iseminger talk about the site before the sun rises. They also hold sunrise observances for the solstices, but the display for the equinoxes is more striking.

I lived in Collinsville just a few miles from Cahokia and spent most of my free time there hiking around. One of the most interesting places to wander around wondering!

As always, absolutely loved this!

The museum at Cahokia is excellent and worth a visit.

Love this. I remember visiting Spiro on a road trip and was struck by how some in the town didn't even realize the significance of the site of Spiro. Also would love a video on the Serpent Mound in OH.

saw this on my recommended at the gym. cant wait to listen to this. i used to deliver meat packing supplies to the cahokia/STL region. and never knew what the mounds were until later in life.

You should do a video over Spiro Mounds in Oklahoma. The amount of artifacts recovered from that site is impressive.

Thanks for this. I'll certainly be interested in what you can find about the snake mounds and the Aanishanabe/Ojibwe people. Or anything you might find about the Mi'kmaq, the Iroquois, etc.

Been there many times. One of my absolute favorite places to go. What a great video. Thank you

Unlike today, I find it remarkable that long ago there were civilized people living in Mississippi!

Your series continues to astonish. Thanks to your vids, when I read Wengrow and Graeber's The Dawn of Everything, I was a lot more familiar with, and had more context for, many of the cultures and sites that they discuss in that book. One thing that intrigued me in their book that I'd like to know more about were North American spiritual societies that they said allowed people to find allies in places that they'd never visited - far from home and even among people who didn't speak their language. Their discussion of the great mobility of many Americans is something I'd like to know more about. They say many people travelled very great distances from their places of birth during their lifetimes and that there were gathering places of diverse groups.

I live in stl and they downplay how important Cahokia was/is. We go there on field trips as kids but they don't really get the point across that it's essentially the north American pyramid at giza

I’m so fortunate that I went there as a kid, it’s unbelievable to see

Thanks! I like to mention 3 things: A) there is quite a heated debate going on about the idea of the "vacant quarter" theory. In 2020 this article was published in American Antiquity: "After Cahokia: Indigenous Repopulation and Depopulation of the Horseshoe Lake Watershed AD 1400-1900". It got criticized in 2021 and that got answered some time later. It's extra interesting because in the northeast, iroquoian sites are being redated with enormous consequences... B) a little earlier than this debate was the news that it had all started earlier, that there was something big before Cahokia. Unfortunately, I'm on the wrong computer now so I don't have access to the article. I'll come back to you (although you might have it already) C) a good friend of mine is not an archaeologist but an architect. After visiting Cahokia a few times, she concluded that archeologists, apparently, are very bad at population estimates. Her estimate for the city is a lot higher. I won't get into the details there, but it is true that the original estimate was done ages ago and based on a very tiny part of the place. Also, it is often compared with London at the same time (check Wikipedia for example) in words like "it was even bigger than London at the time!".... But London was tiny, only the famous 1 sq mile. Cahokia was huge compared to that. Huge and thus empty? I don't buy it :) Other ancient American cities "suffer" from the same "tendency" : their populations are always estimated a lot lower than their Eurasian counterparts. That's not a conspiracy, it's a fact. I compared many, many, many studies, from Wari in Peru to Teotihuacan in Mexico and of course Cahokia in the US... It doesn't matter how big they are in size, compared to Eurasian cities they have tiny population densities. Did they? Or are archeologists just terrible at guessing? We all know what happend to the idea of empty Maya cities... But then again, that idea was shared by many, not that long ago... (ps: I want to make clear that I don't believe it has anything to do with racism. If that were the case, then Asian cities would have been downplayed as well. Also, for the most part, the same is true for African cities. Compared to American ones, they are crowded!)

Great video, I really enjoyed it. It’s interesting that even though corn was present nixtamalization was not. I am also intrigued by the fact that they have depictions of thunderbird which is well known here by the First Nations of Canada.