What doomed a sprawling city near St. Louis 1,000 years ago?
In an image provided by Cahokia Mounds State Historic Site, L.K. Townsend s rendering of Cahokia Mounds at the start of the 12th century, with Monks Mound in the distance. Excavations at Cahokia, famous for its pre-Columbian mounds, challenge the idea that residents destroyed the city through wood clearing. L.K. Townsend, courtesy of Cahokia Mounds State Historic Site via The New York Times.
by Asher Elbein
(NYT NEWS SERVICE)
.- A thousand years ago, a city rose on the banks of the Mississippi River, near what eventually became St. Louis. Over miles of rich farms, public plazas and earthen mounds, the city known today as Cahokia was a thriving hub of immigrants, lavish feasting and religious ceremony. At its peak in the 1100s, Cahokia housed 20,000 people, greater than contemporaneous Paris.