
Cahokia's rise parallels onset of corn agriculture - Thevet
https://news.illinois.edu/view/6367/808689
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lifeisstillgood
I always have to force myself to remember that North Americ pre-Columbus was
not a bunch of plain dwelling nomads hunting buffalo - that was the post-
apocalyptic survivors. I have never heard of a city state in illinois that
lasted from before William the conqueror to after William wallace. And I am
glad it's in my vague history of the world now. Especially as I also have to
remember this is the "other" kind of corn (Us vs UK)!

But that post 1492 pandemic must have been terrifying beyond anything we can
imagine now. Imagine not just coronavirus but basically _every virus_ hitting
you all at once.

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jbattle
To be fair, Cahokia was (if I remember right) the only large city for
literally 1000 miles. If anything that impresses me all the more - these
people may have spontaneously invented the idea of urbanism. I believe there
were widespread trade networks, I'm not clear how many ideas were transmitted
from mesoamerica to the mississippian culture

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brandmeyer
Also, Cahokia was abandoned hundreds of years prior to European contact.

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mark_l_watson
Ha!, I drank my coffee out of a "Cahokia cup" that I bought the second time I
visited.

If you are in Central Illinois, definitely visit Cahokia (and the Lincoln
memorial, of course).

When I was in high school my older brother and I took a 3000 mile train ride
from the California border, through Mexico to near the Guatemala border to see
Mayan ruin complexes. The vibe is different at Cahokia, more peaceful.

A few years ago I visited a ruin site in Northern Mexico that was a major
trading center, goods from Central and South America, and virtually all of
North America flowed through there.

I think that life was mostly very good (except for medical problems/life
expectancy) until the population grew to strain natural resources and
incentivised violence.

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almost_usual
If you do decide to venture out to Cahokia Mounds it is not in the town of
Cahokia but Collinsville, IL.

Cahokia, IL is a town you probably don’t to wander around in.

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mark_l_watson
We would just look for the signs to Cahokia Mounds when going to St Louis from
Urbana/Champaign. Well marked.

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namenotrequired
> There was a massive growth of population and a dramatic shift in ideology
> with the appearance of fertility iconography.

Interesting! Does anyone know if these two tend to go together often?

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nkoren
Pretty much:
[https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_fertility_deities](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_fertility_deities)

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namenotrequired
Sorry, I don't see anything about population growth in there?

(Wow, the Romans had 25 different fertility gods...)

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rasputin243
Off topic, but your parenthetical has me curious: Did the Romans of antiquity
generally agree on a single pantheon of Gods, or would it be more accurate to
say that across the Roman population, there were 25 fertility gods
represented?

Would love to hear from a history enthusiast!

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enkid
The Romans pre Christianity pretty much adopted any God they liked. There
people who worshipped gods from the Greek, Egyptian, and many other pantheons
as well as weirder sects and cults. With a few exceptions like the Jews, most
people didn't see it a contradictions for multiple sets of dieties to exist
and influence the world.

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rossdavidh
It suggests corn cultivation was a sort of positive shock to the society's
population level (as opposed to the more common negative shock of invasion,
plague, etc). I wonder how many examples we have in (pre)history of relatively
abrupt positive shocks to a human population? Aside from the Baby Boom, of
course.

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scottlocklin
> I wonder how many examples we have in (pre)history of relatively abrupt
> positive shocks to a human population? Aside from the Baby Boom, of course.

You're joking right? TLDR: shitloads.

[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Estimates_of_historical_world_...](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Estimates_of_historical_world_population)

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rossdavidh
No, honestly wondering. Most positive changes, significant enough to increase
population carrying capacity, happen gradually. Shocks are more often negative
(at least in the near term).

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spaceprison
I grew up in St. Louis County and Cahokia mounds was a favorite field trip in
school.

If you have the opportunity it's a really cool place.

