Cahokia: Ancient America's Great City on the Mississippi (Penguin Library of American Indian History) - Softcover

Pauketat, Timothy R.

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0143117475 ISBN 13: 9780143117476

Publisher: Penguin Publishing Group, 2010

Synopsis

The fascinating story of a lost city and an unprecedented American civilization

While Mayan and Aztec civilizations are widely known and documented, relatively few people are familiar with the largest prehistoric Native American city north of Mexico-a site that expert Timothy Pauketat brings vividly to life in this groundbreaking book. Almost a thousand years ago, a city flourished along the Mississippi River near what is now St. Louis. Built around a sprawling central plaza and known as Cahokia, the site has drawn the attention of generations of archaeologists, whose work produced evidence of complex celestial timepieces, feasts big enough to feed thousands, and disturbing signs of human sacrifice. Drawing on these fascinating finds, Cahokia presents a lively and astonishing narrative of prehistoric America.

About this title

Review:

"This is an excellent volume. It is well organized and edited, and the individual contributions provide lots of data and provocative ideas. The book will serve as an important springboard for future research on Cahokian social history."--"American Anthropologist,"

"The book consists of thirteen essays that together constitute a complex and superbly crafted social history of Cahokia. . . . The contributors have written provocative and, for the most part, accessible essays that are both refreshing in their propositions and important in their conclusions."--"Journal of Southern History,"

"This informative book about Cahokia is also a rich source for theories and techniques applicable to archaeological and historical records elsewhere."--William Gustav Gartner, "Historical Geography,"

About the Author:

Timothy R. Pauketat is an American archaeologist and professor of anthropology at the University of Illinois at Champaign-Urbana. After earning a BS in anthropology and earth sciences from Southern Illinois University Edwardsville, he worked as a staff archaeologist at the Center for American Archaeology. Pauketat is best known for his research on Cahokia, the center of the large, regional Mississippian culture that extended throughout the Mississippi Valley and tributaries.

About this edition

• Publisher: Penguin Publishing Group
• Publication date: 2010
• ISBN 10: 0143117475
• ISBN 13: 9780143117476
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 208