How Ancient Poop Debunked Myth of Native American Lost Civilization

[Judi Lynn]

By UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA - BERKELEY JANUARY 28, 2020



Modern picture of Cahokia Mounds State Historic Site in Collinsville, Illinois, directly across the Mississippi River from St. Louis, Missouri.

New study debunks myth of Cahokia’s Native American lost civilization: ancient poop levels point to repopulation of iconic pre-Columbian metropolis.


A University of California, Berkeley, archaeologist has dug up ancient human feces, among other demographic clues, to challenge the narrative around the legendary demise of Cahokia, North America’s most iconic pre-Columbian metropolis.

In its heyday in the 1100s, Cahokia — located in what is now southern Illinois — was the center for Mississippian culture and home to tens of thousands of Native Americans who farmed, fished, traded and built giant ritual mounds.

By the 1400s, Cahokia had been abandoned due to floods, droughts, resource scarcity and other drivers of depopulation. But contrary to romanticized notions of Cahokia’s lost civilization, the exodus was short-lived, according to a new UC Berkeley study.

The study takes on the “myth of the vanishing Indian” that favors decline and disappearance over Native American resilience and persistence, said lead author A.J. White, a UC Berkeley doctoral student in anthropology.

More:
https://scitechdaily.com/how-ancient-poop-debunked-myth-of-native-american-lost-civilization/

[Sherman A1]

1. Thanks for posting

Cahokia is close to where I live and a very interesting place to visit.

[Judi Lynn]

3. It's amazing how much has been done to bury any hint the people who were murdered were intelligent

instead of being violent, inhuman savages who were almost all killed for self-defense by very nice "god-fearing" white folks.

That is an enormous structure we can see in photographs. It should have been so important to know more about it as soon as the invaders showed up, just like all the other amazing structures which have been ignored so very long.

It's about time the self-announced masters of the universe took a good hard look at themselves and start looking for the perspective they've lacked since childhood.

Surely hoping somehow more can be learned about Cahokia in our lifetimes. It would be wonderful to visit.

[wnylib]

2. Good to see this study.

Of course, people don't just "vanish" from the face of the earth when a civilization declines. They relocate in groups if the region is no longer habitable and take their cultural customs with them, adaped to fit their new circumstances. Or, they stay in the area in smaller groups and keep some customs while adopting new ones.

Or, as in the case of Britain, the original nation remains while its governing control over remote regions declines, leaving behind its influence in those regions.

Various cultures and their influences rose and fell in the Americas, too, before Columbus, and adapted in various ways after him.