Summary
The article tells us about a Native American civilization
that lived in the Mississippi Valley, now Illinois, about 700 AD. The ruins and
remains of this ancient civilization still stand as a memory of their
existence. The civilization settled and created a city that in contemporary
time was named Cahokia. It lived 15,000 in the city and is said to be the
largest city ever built north of Mexico. People went from hunting to farming
and the population exploded due to the new technology of food production. To
manage corn pluses and to keep the population in order, the Cahokians created a
class system that allowed them to not only organize the storage of food but it
also created inequality among the people. This together with other factors
like; deforestation, diseases and the lack of arable land made people later on
leave the city for other places. The population of Cahokia built enormous
mounds where they buried people and some of these mounds still stand today. One
of the most dramatic finds archeologists have made is that some Cahokians
practiced astronomy. Archeologists have found proof of that by finding posts
that point in the direction of the horizon and with that information the
archeologists can explain their connection and their fascination of the sun. After
some time the city of Cahokia faced difficulties and the people in the city
began to emigrate away from the city. No one knows what happened that made the
population leave the city behind but some factors that can have driven them
away are known.
Questions
Why did the people chose that certain place to settle down?
How did Cahokia rise?
How did cahokian population explode?
How did the society keep people in place?
What did the people exchange with others?
How did the Cahokians keep peace?
What problems aroused that jeopardized the life of the
Cahokians?
Vocabulary
