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Finding Cahokia
Finding North America's lost medieval city

Newitz, Annalee
http://arstechnica.com/features/2016/12/theres-a-1000-year-old-lost-city-beneath-the-st-louis-suburbs/

Publisher:  Ars Technica
Date Written:  13/12/2016
Year Published:  2016  
Resource Type:  Article

Recounting the author's experiences on an archaeological dig examining the city of Cahokia, found under the suburbs of St. Louis.

Abstract: 

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Excerpts:

Centuries later, Cahokia's meteoric rise and fall remain a mystery. It was booming in 1050, and by 1400 its population had disappeared, leaving behind a landscape completely geoengineered by human hands. Looking for clues about its history, archaeologists dig through the thick, wet, stubborn clay that Cahokians once used to construct their mounds. Buried beneath just a few feet of earth are millennia-old building foundations, trash pits, the cryptic remains of public rituals, and in some places, even, graves.

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Against the dark, swampy mud, the wood-framed and thatched houses of Cahokians would have been colorful, decorated with mats, carvings, and plaster. Public areas featured wooden poles, possibly painted and decorated with fur, feathers, baskets of grain, and other symbolic items. People also decorated themselves. Several tools for making tattoos have been uncovered at Cahokia, as have beads and jewelry. Figurines found in Mississippian cities show that people wore body paint, patterned clothes, and earrings. Men played a game with pucks and spears called Chunkey. Women farmed on their knees, using handheld hoes made with wood and sharp stone. And as huge garbage pits full of animal bones, drug paraphernalia, and fancy pottery attest, everybody at Cahokia loved to party.

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