Biggest City in Prehistoric North America in CAHOKIA by Timothy R. Pauketat

This is the story of the Mississippian civilization centered on the city that existed at present-day Cahokia Mounds State Historic Site from around 800-1200 AD after which it was gradually abandoned. At its height the city had 10,000 inhabitants, with a support system in surrounding villages and towns of another 20,000-30,000. The city and its surrounding area boasted more than 200 mounds of which only a relative handful remain.

The book has drawn attention because author Timothy R. Pauketat points out the clear evidence of human sacrifice practiced by the Cahokians, on a large-scale but nowhere near the degree practiced by the Aztecs of Central America.

The author traces the discoveries made at Cahokia from the earliest years up to present times, building a picture of life there and how these mysterious people lived, about whom modern Native Americans have little memory. The author's sources include legends of modern Indian tribes who probably are descended from Cahokia.

Pauketat offers an informative view of what the traveler might have experienced approaching from the bluffs above the floodplain where outlying farms and villages were located and entering the city itself. In the center would be found what is now known as Monk's Mound, from which the Great Sun ruled, overlooking the plaza where people played an immensely popular ballgame with religious connotations called chunky.

Named after the Cahokia band of the Illini Confederation living at the site when the French explorers got there, Cahokia Mounds is located in Collinsville (Cahokia is a village located some miles south and unrelated to the mounds). From atop Monk's Mound you can look to the west and see close at hand the Gateway Arch and the St Louis syline. And in fact, it is only 15 or 20 minutes drive away.

As large as the historic site is today, it is only a fraction of what once existed, with suburban villages and farms in East St Louis, across the river in St Louis, and, of course, much closer at hand, all long ago bulldozed. I visited on a school outing when I was a kid and you couldn't see the mounds for nthe trees. The museum was in a rickety old shed. Now, the lawn is carefully manicured, you can see the mounds in any direction you look, you can climb the steps of Monk's Mound to view the Gateway Arch from the top and the bluffs on the other, you can step into the reconstructed Woodhenge observatory, and you can stop at the interpretive center with its film, walk-through diorama of life in Cahokia, maps, charts, displays (which, among other things, focus on many of the burials referenced by Pauketat), along with a restaurant, gift shop, and meeting rooms for the occasional special presentations.

Amazing place, great book.