Cahokia: Ancient America's Great City on the Mississippi Capa dura - 2009

por Timothy R. Pauketat

The fascinating story of alost city and an unprecedentedcivilization

Almost a thousand years ago, a Native Americancity flourished along the Mississippi River near what isnow St. Louis. Cahokia was a thriving metropolis at itsheight with a population of twenty thousand, a sprawlingcentral plaza, and scores of spectacular earthenmounds. The city gave rise to a new culture that spreadacross the plains; yet by 1400 it had been abandoned,leaving only the giant mounds as monuments andtraces of its influence in tribes we know today.

In Cahokia, anthropologist Timothy R. Pauketatreveals the story of the city and its people as uncoveredby the dramatic digs of American corn-belt archaeologists.These excavations have revealed evidence of apowerful society, including complex celestial timepieces,the remains of feasts big enough to feed thousands, anddisturbing signs of large-scale human sacrifice.

Drawing on these pioneering digs and a wealthof analysis by historians and archaeologists, Pauketatprovides a comprehensive picture of what's beendiscovered about Cahokia and how these findingshave challenged our perceptions of Native Americans.Cahokia is a lively read and a compelling narrative ofprehistoric America.