Cahokia's rise parallels onset of corn agriculture | Hacker News Reader

Cahokia's rise parallels onset of corn agriculture

news.illinois.edu

69 pointsThevet17 comments

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.

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

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

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.

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.

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

> 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?

Pretty much: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_fertility_deities

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

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

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!

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.

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.

Most recently, look at the green revolution in agriculture.

Historically, it is likely that each case where various crops were domesticated had a similar effect.

In between, you had the invention of the harness that let draft animals pull a bigger load (and to plow). there was also the invention of the metal plow in the 18th century.

> 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_...

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).

These changes are not always positive in seemingly counter-intuitive ways. For instance, it's now thought the 'early adopters' of agriculture and settled living became less healthy than their hunter-gatherer cousins.

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.

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