Cahokia, the Great Native American Metropolis [Paperback]

Biloine Whiting Young (Author), Melvin J Fowler (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 17, 1999

Five centuries before the Pilgrims landed in Massachusetts, indigenous North Americans had already built a vast urban center on the banks of the Mississippi River where East St. Louis is today. This is the story of North America's largest archaeological site, told through the lives, personalities, and conflicts of the men and women who excavated and studied it. At its height the metropolis of Cahokia had twenty thousand inhabitants in the city center with another ten thousand in the outskirts. Cahokia was a precisely planned community with a fortified central city and surrounding suburbs. Its entire plan reflected the Cahokian's concept of the cosmos.Its centerpiece, Monk's Mound, ten stories tall, is the largest pre-Columbian structure in North America, with a base circumference larger than that of either the Great Pyramid of Khufu in Egypt or the Pyramid of the Sun at Teotihuacan in Mexico. Nineteenth-century observers maintained that the mounds, too sophisticated for primitive Native American cultures, had to have been created by a superior, non-Indian race, perhaps even by survivors of the lost continent of Atlantis. Melvin Fowler, the 'dean' of Cahokia archaeologists, and Biloine Whiting Young tell an engrossing story of the struggle to protect the site from the encroachment of interstate highways and urban sprawl. Now identified as a World Heritage Site by UNESCO and protected by the Illinois Historic Preservation Agency, Cahokia serves as a reminder that the indigenous North Americans had a past of complexity and great achievement.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"The first-ever book for general readers about [Cahokia]... To say it's a long awaited book, then, is to test the limits of understatement; but it's nice to be able to say that it was worth waiting for. It's a terrific science book, and just a plain good read, even for those of us who don't know any more about archaeology than we've picked up from Indiana Jones... It's something of a miracle that so coherent, balanced, comprehensible and good-natured an account could have found expression from the scattered, elusive, hit-and-miss, disputatious, intuitive, ungenerous, turf- jealous science that has occurred at Cahokia." - Arkansas Times "Much of this engaging volume is a first-hand account of 50 years of research by pioneers in Mississippian archaeology. The great discoveries at Cahokia come alive along with the people who made them. Fowler and Young provide a wonderfully human account of site preservation and scientific revelation." -- Mark Michel, American Archaeology "Brings to life all the mysteries of the place as well as the dramatic unfolding of its discovery... The first accessible, in-depth account of its history, discovery, and excavation... All of what a book should be for those interested in archaeology and how the field has evolved over the past couple of centuries... Yet the book is more than this. It is a book in love with history and science. And there's great drama in these pages... Cahokia chronicles the slow discovery process in great, yet concise, detail... An engaging and exciting book." - Peter Sherman, Illinois Times "A layman's introduction to Cahokia's layout, daily life, and place in history. These eighty pages could be read as a separate publication and alone are worth the price of the volume. Readers interested in all three stories can read the book through; others can pick the topics that interest them most. No one will be disappointed." -- Frederick E. Hoxie, Michigan Historical Review "Focuses on the life of an archaeological investigation, which in the case of Cahokia has been long and complex... An entertaining and very readable account of Cahokia for the layman as well as those readers knowledgeable about prehistory and the field of archaeology." -- Jo Anne Nast, Journal of Illinois History ADVANCE PRAISE "Enlightening and entertaining."-Thomas Emerson, coauthor of Cahokia and the Hinterlands

Product Details

• Paperback: 384 pages
• Publisher: University of Illinois Press (November 17, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0252068211
• ISBN-13: 978-0252068218
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 6 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,531,921 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

21 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Cahokia, July 5, 2000

By 

Gary Reger - See all my reviews

This review is from: Cahokia, the Great Native American Metropolis (Paperback)

Over the past decade or so, Cahokia (located in Illinois just east of St. Louis) has emerged as the most extraordinary archaeological site in North America. In the 500 years between roughly 900 and 1400, Native Americans (no one can yet identify the group) built a great settlement, carefully planned, with temples, palaces, stockades, and other accoutrements that one would identify with a city, marked by tremendous earthen constructions -- the mounds that dominate the site today. The Cahokians' influence spread up and down the Mississippi valley, and the magnetism of their achievement drew people and wealth into their sphere of control.

The tale of the discovery, preservation, excavation, and interpretation of this magnificent site is told with verve and excitement in this collaboration between Biloine Whiting Young, a professional writer, and Melvin Fowler, one of the leading lights of Cahokian archaeology. They write in an accessible style but without sacrificing any of the complexities of the history and interpretation of Cahokia, and an abundant bibliography allows easy access to the technical literature on which the book rests. My advice: read this book, then hop in the easiest mode of transportation and get yourself to Collinsville, Illinois. You will come away from both with a new admiration for the achievements of our predecessors on this continent.

21 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A superb book for the non-archeologist, January 25, 2000

By 

Reyburn (Troy, IL USA) - See all my reviews

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This review is from: Cahokia, the Great Native American Metropolis (Paperback)

This book provides a wealth of detail about the great prehistoric city which we now call Cahokia. Written in layman's terms, the authors cover every aspect of the archeological investigations of the city. It is hard to believe that a large metropolis existed in mid-America a thousand years ago. In this book, Ms. Young and Dr. Fowler document the many studies made over the years that prove it did exist. And they do so in an easy to understand manner. This book is very easy to read.

14 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Good Overview of a Neglected Archaeological Site, February 6, 2002

By 

Bay Gibbons (Salt Lake City, USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Cahokia, the Great Native American Metropolis (Paperback)

Few today will have ever heard of Cohokia, the vast urban center once located on the banks of the Mississippi River. Cahokia is not only the largest archaeological site in North American, but one of the least well preserved or analyzed ancient civilizations in the world. Located in a present urban area near St. Louis, the failure to study and catalog this site until the past few years is a stunning example of modern ignorance and mismanagment. This study is the best single volume work on the subject of Cahokia.

That being said, the limitations of this volume are many. It is apparent that Professor Fowler's research is essentially presented by Young, a non-specialist writer. Unfortunately, the writing is uneven and not particularly memorable. There is also a dearth of photographs and diagrams. Finally, I was dissatisfied with the lack of discussion of the context of the Cahokia culture with the other prehistorical peoples of North and Central America.