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Cahokia$s Boom and Bust in the Context of Climate Change

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 January 2017

Larry V. Benson ,
Timothy R. Pauketat  and
Edward R. Cook
Larry V. Benson
Affiliation:
National Research Program, U. S. Geological Survey, 3215 Marine St., Boulder, CO 80303 (lbenson@usgs.gov)
Timothy R. Pauketat
Affiliation:
Department of Anthropology, 109 Davenport Hall, University of Illinois, Urbana, IL 61801
Edward R. Cook
Affiliation:
Biology and Paleo Environment, Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory, 61 Route 9W, P.O. Box 1000, Palisades, NY 10964
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Abstract

During the early Mississippian Lohmann phase (A.D. 1050-1100), the American Bottom experienced a political and economic transformation. This transformation included the abrupt planned construction of central Cahokia, a large-scale influx of people to "downtown Cahokia," the abandonment of pre-Mississippian village settlements, the reorganization of farming in the Mississippi River floodplain, and the founding of the Richland farming complex in the Illinois uplands. New tree-ring-based records of climate change indicate that this rapid development occurred during one of the wettest 50-year periods during the last millennium. During the next 150 years, a series of persistent droughts occurred in the Cahokian area which may be related to the eventual abandonment of the American Bottom. By A.D. 1150, in the latter part of a severe 15-year drought, the Richland farming complex was mostly abandoned, eliminating an integral part of Cahokia$s agricultural base. At about the same time, a 20,000-log palisade was erected around Monks Mound and the Grand Plaza, indicating increased social unrest. During this time, people began exiting Cahokia and, by the end of the Stirling phase (A.D. 1200), Cahokia$s population had decreased by about 50 percent and by A.D. 1350, Cahokia and much of the central Mississippi valley had been abandoned.

Résumé

Résumé

Durante la fase temprana del Lohmann Mississíppico (A.D. 1050-1100), el American Bottom se transformó política y económicamente. Esta transformación incluyó la rápida planeación de la construcción de Cahokia, una llegada masiva de gente al su centro, el abandono de los asentamientos de villas pre-Mississíppicas, la reorganización de la agricultura en las partes bajas del río Mississippi y la fundación del complejo agrícola Richland en la tierras altas de Illinois. Nuevos registros de cambio climático, basados en anillos de árboles, indican que este rápido desarrollo ocurrió durante uno de los más húmedos períodos de 50 años del último milenio. Durante los 150 años siguientes, una serie de sequías persistentes ocurrieron en el área de Cahokia, lo que debe relacionarse con el abandono del American Bottom. Para 1150 A.D., en la última parte de una severa sequía de 15 años, el complejo agrícola Richland fue casi abandonado, eliminando una parte integral de la base agrícola de Cahokia. Casi al mismo tiempo, una palizada de 20,000 estacas fue levantada alrededor de Monks Mound y la Grand Plaza, indicando el incremento de conflictos sociales. Durante este tiempo, la gente empezó a salir de Cahokia y, para fines de la fase Stirling (1200 A.D.), la población de Cahokia había decrecido cerca del 50 por ciento; para 1350 A.D., Cahokia y gran parte del valle central del Mississippi habían sido abandonados.

Type
Articles
Information
American Antiquity , Volume 74 , Issue 3 , July 2009 , pp. 467 - 483
Copyright
Copyright © Society for American Archaeology 2009

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