Analysis: My Visit To The Cahokia Mounds

529 Words2 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: famous indian and european interactions

Upon my visit to the site, I had no idea what to expect as I had never been to the Mounds before and I left very fascinated with the iconic landmark that I never knew about prior to taking this course at SCC. The museum contained so many great resources to learn more about the history of the site. One in particular that really amazed me was the picture of the mounds during its early stages and it was almost identical to the one we viewed in class. The museum described the first settlements at Cahokia starting at around AD 700 by Late Woodland Indians. The textbook described settlements starting at around AD 800 which is one difference that I noticed between the text and the actual site that could be different from what we matched up in class. …show more content…

I definitely do agree that the Cahokia Mounds exhibited characteristics of civilization. When I climbed to the top, the first think I noticed was the elevation and how I was on a rectangular piece of land that was constructed so it was very difficult to climb from the sides that have been used for protection against the mounds for any intruders. I noticed the many lakes of water, and large fields that were used for crops. There was a great amount of open land that would make it perfect for retreats and meetings amongst the community and for any additional crops as well. I really was fascinated with the way the everything was so open and wide. The Cahokia Mounds were definitely a landmark that I will never forget because it truly showed me how far we have come in life and how advanced humans really are. It makes me appreciate what we have now in technology, because in the time period the indians were in, they had to make the best out of everything they could to survive and

Show More
Related

  • The 19th Unnamed Cave Analysis

    625 Words  | 2 Pages

    The paper talked about the new mud glyph cave art site the was discovered in northern Alabama. It is believe that the artifacts and the images that is located in the cave linked back to the Early and Middle Woodland periods. The cave was named “19th Unnamed Cave” by a naming system that was used be University of Tennessee. Other main points in this paper include the 19th Unnamed Cave, the mud glyph art that it contains, and how the mud glyph contributes to the understanding of mud glyph assemblage preservation, and it helps illuminates the chronological placement of the art form. The cave is located in northern Alabama with a cave mouth of 25 m in diameter and with more than 5 km of underground passageways. The article hypothesized that since the entrance of the cave had some fluvial action, there would no archaeological material that would have been preserved.

    Read More

  • Compare And Contrast Cahokia And Moundsville

    716 Words  | 2 Pages

    Cahokia and Moundsville are two very similar cities but in different parts of the country. First going into Cahokia; the name “Cahokia” came from an aboriginal people that lived in the city at about 17th century. It is located in southern Illinois between East St. Louis and Collinsville, right across from the Mississippi River. Cahokia was at its peak from 1050 to 1200 AD with a highest population of about ten to twenty thousand people. This city was spread over 6-square miles. Way bigger than the city of Moundsville. Moundsville is a large settlement of Mississippian culture on the Black Warrior River in central Alabama. This settlement was heavily populated with roughly about ten thousand people and took over almost more than three hundred and seventy acres and was built on a bluff over looking the Mississippi River.

    Read More

  • Cahokia: Ancient America’s Great City on the Mississippi

    1176 Words  | 3 Pages

    Cahokia: Ancient America’s Great City on the Mississippi, by Timothy R. Pauketat, is on the history, society, and religious customs of the Cahokian people. Consisting of twelve chapters, each chapter deals with a different aspect of Cahokian society. Chapter one opens up by telling the reader how the stars in the sky played an important role in the Native American belief system. The Planet Venus was the key figure in all of this, in fact the ancient Maya believed Venus to be a god. According to the Cahokians , Venus had a dual nature, in the daytime Venus was viewed a masculine, and in the evening it was seen as feminine. In the same chapter, Pauketat lets us know about the discovery of, two hundred packed-earth mounds constructed in a five-square mile zone represented the belief systems of the Cahokian people. Historical archeology was the main reason for the discovery of two hundred earth packed mounds. At its peak, Cahokia had a population of over ten thousand, not including the people who lived in the towns surrounding the city. By the time the 1800s came around, the European Americans had already been living in North America for some time; however, many Europeans refused to acknowledge the Native American role in building these ancient mounds. Instead, they believed the mounds to been built by a race of non-Indians. Due to the preservation of Cahokia within a state park and modern highway system, many things became lost. Since many things became lost, very few archaeologists have a good understanding of Cahokia. While there may be a loss of a complete picture, archaeologists are still making progress with numerous discoveries. These discoveries bring into question long-held beliefs such as a people who were peaceful an...

    Read More

  • The Columbus Museum of Art

    668 Words  | 2 Pages

    The Chattahoochee Legacy Hall provides a timeline of history from the first civilizations to the modern day. When first entering I encountered a 15 foot alligator that was illegally killed and preserved and enclosed in a glass case, Oscar the Alligator is a fitting name. Down the hall I encountered an old slave house, where I met Cicero, a young slave who claimed the house was his. He spoke about Horace King and his great building skills. Across from the house, I noticed a beautiful red ceremonial beaded sash. According to the information next to the display I learned it was carried by a Yuchi chief named Sakasemyer, who snuck it through the Trail of Tears. Next to that was a school house, this exhibit was a favorite when I would visit the museum as a child. It is a one-room school complete with a large chalkboard in front behind the teacher’s desk and a smaller one on each of the sixteen desks. The detail is decent, upon walking in I heard an echo from the wooden floors and I noticed a bucket of coal for warming the room in the winter months. On the chalkboard assignments were listed for each particular grade level. The next era i...

    Read More

  • Native American Museum

    1581 Words  | 4 Pages

    ...due to the external forces such as other settlers e.g. the Navajos, new settlers along with the Spanish conquerors entered their world. As a result the Pueblo Indians were imposed by these external forces especially through military power that changed their ways completely; having minimal cultural practices of their ancestors before them. The museum may seem like it’s very limited to what’s on exhibit mostly because not all of the building is in use. However the few exhibits they have is substantial in sparking an interest or even beginning to understand the cultures of Native Americans.

    Read More

  • How Did The Anasazi Build Their Civilization

    496 Words  | 1 Pages

    The Anasazi settled in wide circles in modern parts. They were known for the trade center. When it came to trading everything had a worth value. The Mayans were a civilization, that were known for having a system of writing. The mound builders is a culture who inhabitants of North America.

    Read More

  • Analyzing Early Mesopotamian Civilization

    1087 Words  | 3 Pages

    When analyzing ancient civilization and how it began, there are many elements and aspects that should be considered. Questions such as how did civilization begin? What lead to its creation? Where did it begin, and why in that particular location? Many of these questions can be examined and answered by researching what many believe is the world’s earliest civilization, Mesopotamia. It is widely believed that this region was chosen and supported one of the world’s first civilizations. This area was settled over 10,000 years ago by a group of people known as the Sumerians (Cunningham & Reich, 2010).

    Read More

  • Indian Temple Mound

    992 Words  | 2 Pages

    In the heart of downtown Fort Walton Beach, Florida lies a magnificent hill of earth created by prehistoric Native Americans as a political and religious center. Built about 1,400 AD, this structure of earth is known today as The Indian Temple Mound. This temple mound represents one of the most outstanding artifacts left by the early inhabitants of the area. Not only is it thought to be the largest mound located on saltwater, but also it could possibly be one of the largest prehistoric earthworks on the Gulf Coast. Many events that took place so long ago in the past have been discovered due to the objects found in this mound. In 1961, The Indian Temple Mound Museum was built. This museum was the first municipally owned museum in the State of Florida. Today the museum has a two-dollar charge to enter, yet it has become one of leading

    Read More

  • Ancient Burial Grounds of Hawaii

    832 Words  | 2 Pages

    In recent years, ancient burial grounds have been frequently disturbed due to increasing surveillance by anthropologists and constructed on by state-of-the-art technology and are more critically protected than ever before. Understanding the importance of burial grounds gives an insight on the rich history of ancient Hawaii. They have influenced the burials performed, ancestors and their modern inhabitants, and how they have impacted modern Hawaii. Burial methods will range from the tallest peaks on land to burying those in the ocean. Ancestors influence these methods depending on their rank and actions, having their modern descendants have a choice to inherit these arrangements and protect their ancestors. By educating people about past burials, procedures performed by ancestors, and the impact today, it should provide a clear background of its importance in Hawaiian society.

    Read More

  • Archaeological Dig

    343 Words  | 1 Pages

    While digging in the far reaches of the African outback, now know as the western part of Kenya, archaeologist Bozo excavated a site that revolutionized the thoughts of the scientific world. At this site they found many interesting artifacts and paintings that included proof of an early civilization. At this time scientists are calling this civilization “Pontu” after one of the paintings suggested that a pontoon was used for transportation across Lake Victoria, one of the adjacent lakes.

    Read More

  • Compare And Contrast Egypt And Mesoamerica

    1089 Words  | 3 Pages

    Around 3500 B.C.E to 3000 B.C.E., civilizations emerged in many places. Egypt and Mesoamerica are distinctive two of them. Considering the different aspects of civilization, historians can find some same characteristics and differences which are valuable for historians to understand civilization in-depth.

    Read More

  • The Indus Valley, The Early Indian Civilizations

    1218 Words  | 3 Pages

    The Indus Valley was the earliest Indian civilization. This civilization flourished for about a thousand years, then disappeared without a trace. Even though archeologists have no solid evidence, they know that it covers the largest area than any other civilization until the rise of Persia a thousand years later.

    Read More

  • Essay On Mayan Mayans

    886 Words  | 2 Pages

    These three complex societies of Northern America have made quite the influence on other parts of the world. They were no great empires but they left ruins as spectacular as those of Ancient Mexico or Peru. These complex societies were able to establish empires of trade, tradition, and government as quickly as they declined. Nevertheless, they are an important part of our world history today.

    Read More

  • Moundville Burial Sites and Evidence of Social Stratification

    1583 Words  | 4 Pages

    About 800 years ago, a great civilization inhabited the land in west Alabama, located along the Black Warrior River, south of Tuscaloosa. It encompassed a known area of 320 acres and contained at least 29 earthen mounds. Other significant features include a plaza, or centralized open area, and a massive fortification of log construction. The flat topped, pyramidal mounds ranging from three to 60 feet, are believed to have been constructed by moving the soil, leaving large pits that are today small lakes. As major ceremonial center, up to 3000 people inhabited the central area from 1200-1400 AD. An estimated 10,000 lived around the stockade, which surrounded three sides of the civilization (Blitz 2008:2-3; Little et al 2001:132).

    Read More

  • Analysis Of Rising From The Plains

    1544 Words  | 4 Pages

    Rising from the Plains by John McPhee is about an influential geologist, John David Love, interpreting the geologic history of Wyoming. The surface area of Wyoming has been subjected to many geological formations from the rise of the Rocky Mountains through the Laramide Orogeny in late Cretaceous time to the deep structural basin known as the Jackson Hole with rock dating back to the Precambrian period. Throughout each time period of the Earth’s history, the surface of Wyoming has experienced significant changes that have affected the physical landscape, as well as living organisms, even to this day. In this story John David Love shares his knowledge of the geologic history of Wyoming with John McPhee as they travel across Wyoming taking in the vastness that the landscape of Wyoming presents.

    Read More

More about Analysis: My Visit To The Cahokia Mounds

Open Document