From Booklist
Gr. 4^-8. Most books on Native American culture concentrate on the periods just before, during, and after contact with European civilization. This one, however, offers a glimpse of American life in a much earlier period. The authors believe that the Cahokia Mounds site in southern Illinois "represents the most complex social and political culture of prehistoric North American Indians." The book describes the archaeological finds and the layout of Cahokia, relates it to other sites in the U. S. and Mexico, and discusses the deductions made about the people who lived at Cahokia and the mysteries that remain. The black-and-white illustrations, mainly drawings with a few fuzzy photographs, vary in style and in quality of reproduction. Although the pictures add interest to the text, the practice of captioning them only in the appended list of illustrations limits their usefulness, especially for children. Despite these drawbacks, the book provides a basic introduction to Cahokia Mounds. That alone will make it a useful addition to libraries, particularly in the Midwest. Carolyn Phelan
