The Decline and Collapse of Cahokia
There is purity and strength
In places sacred to the people
Places strong in the
Oneness of earth and sky and of all things.
By 1050 AD, the mighty civilization of Cahokia had reached dominant power on the fertile Mississippi floodplain. Some 15,000 people occupied Cahokia and the farming settlements around it, many of them farmers, traders and craftsmen. However, by 1200 AD, Cahokia had begun to decline in power and size as a result of climatic, social, and environmental changes. Although is it not obvious what the exact cause of the decline of Cahokia was, it is clear that several different events contributed to its downfall. This pathfinder outlines the resources used in the research paper for anyone wanting to do any additional research on the fascinating and mysterious collapse of Cahokia
Primary sources
Collins, James. "The Archaeology of the Cahokia Mounds ICT-II: Site Structure." Illinois Cultural Resources, Study No. 10, Springfield, 1990 (accessed March 20, 2011).
This is a detailed report on archaeological excavations that took place the Cahokia Mounds at Interpretive-Center tract II as part of a series designed by the Illinois State Historic Preservation Office and Illinois Historic Preservation Agency. It gives exact detail about items and structures found at the site, including object descriptions, the site layout, and the periods artifacts came out of. This resource contains a rather large amount of information, but the amount of detail is very good.
Fowler, Melvin. "The Cahokia Atlas: A Historical Atlas of Cahokia Archaeology." Illinois Historic Preservation Agency, Studies in Illinois Archaeology No. 6, 1989 (accessed March 20, 2011).
"The Cahokia Atlas: A Historical Atlas of Cahokia Archaeology" is another archaeology report published by the Illinois Historic Preservation Agency which focuses on the mounds at Cahokia. It provides detailed contour maps of the land, mound locations, dimensions, and mound excavations. This report is a good resource for anyone interested in the layout of the land at Cahokia, and is written in an easy to read paragraph form.
Bareis, Charles, J. and Porter, James W., eds. American Bottom Archaeology. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1984.
"American Bottom Archaeology" is the final report on the FAI-270 project published by the Illinois Department of Transportation. The work presents a summary of the archaeological information obtained from construction along the FAI-270 highway (which is now the FAI-255 highway). This report displays illustrations of many of the artifacts found there, along with corresponding research on the soil, site structure, floral and faunal remains, and feature descriptions. Some of the highlights include illustrations of tools, arrowheads, pottery, and figurines that were found at different sites in the area
Secondary sources
Seppa, Nathan. "Metropolitan
Life on the Mississippi." The Washington Post,
March 1997, H01, http://www.washingtonpost.com/
This is an excellent resource for anyone wanting to learn more about the entire civilization at the Cahokia Mounds: how the population there lived, the land they lived on, their monuments, and the collapse of their civilization. Seppa uses credible information, taken from his interviews with experts on the subject: Timothy Pauketat, an anthropologist at the State University of New York at Buffalo; William Iseminger, archaeologist and curator at Cahokia Mounds State Historic Site and John E. Kelly, a researcher in the area for 26 years. Seppa's article provides clear information about a not-so-clear topic in an easy to read manner.
Alt, Susan. "Cahokia's Boom and Bust in the Context of Climate Change." American Antiquity, July 2009, 467, http://austinlibrary.com (accessed March 25, 2011).
Alt's article provides a thorough description of the climate change that occurred in the American Bottom and how that affected the population at Cahokia. This resource deals with the political and social implications that resulted from the climate and environmental changes at Cahokia.
Chappell, Sally Kit. Cahokia: Mirror of the Cosmos, Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2002.
Chappell's book is perhaps the most valuable resource for anyone looking for a complete picture of Cahokia. The book provides a very assessable narrative of Cahokia, beginning with the very formation of the land years before human population, through development of the civilization, to the decline, and finally, the long and tedious process of excavation of the site. The book also contains many attractive illustrations that makes it a pleasure to read.
Woods, William I. "Population Nucleation, Intensive Agriculture, and Environmental Degradation: The Cahokia Example," Agricultural and Human Values, 2004, 255-261, http://austinlibrary.com (accessed March 24, 2011).
In this paper, Woods evaluates the impact the vast population at Cahokia had upon the land and makes a strong case that overpopulation of the area was a definite factor in Cahokia's demise. He provides strong evidence as to how the effects of so many people concentrated in one area could have proved detrimental to the land and how it could have affected the living conditions there. This particular report outlines his most important points.
Woods, William I. and Lopinot, Neal H. "Wood Overexploitation and the Collapse of Cahokia." in Foraging and Farming in the Eastern Woodlands, Margret Scarry, 206-231, http://www.ebsco.com (accessed March 27, 2011).
This article provides a much more thorough argument for the disastrous effects of overpopulation at Cahokia, with more specific evidence. It isn’t as easy to understand the ideas as the previous article, but it does provide a very detailed set of evidence for environmental impacts the Cahokians could have had on their land.
Evan Ryker