The Rise and Fall of Cahokia: North America’s First City
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- Опубликовано: 2 окт 2024
- Have you ever heard of Cahokia? Not known by many, Cahokia was actually North America's first city, long before European colonizers arrived. Unfortunately, the residents left behind no written history- so how have archaeologists pieced together the details of these population centers? Find out with Hank Green in this exciting episode of SciShow!
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Why does my tongue cramp? I mean I get it’s a muscle but like why hasn’t it evolved to not do that?
@@kaylapetre1093 best question ever!!!
@@woodstockjon420 it’s true it’s annoying why can’t it just not happen
The Mississippians made another outpost up north, near me! Look up Aztalan :)
Are the socks padded on the bottom. I work standing up and I need socks that are thicker on the soles for comfort.
I think most people here would appreciate a scishow-archeology channel.
We'll have to suggest during their yearly 'what's next' survey
@Fk Ff not the same; it's in the name "Eons"
Archeology is the story of humankind through excavation of sites and the analysis of artefacts
I would watch that .. I sooo would
@@ValeriePallaoro yeah, archaeology for humans, palaEONtology for fossils
+
I love Misssissippian cultures! They're underrated even as far as pre-colonial American civilizations go. Great video SciShow.
I spent a summer at Wickliffe Mounds in Kentucky, it's really fascinating, the mound builders. Sadly, back in the 60s, a highway was built thru the area before they understood the cultural significance, much was lost. Not all. It's a neat place if you ever get to visit, Wickliffe, KY.
@@tysparks598 Thats sadly the case with a lot of sites. But at least some survived. I'll have to keep that in mind if I'm ever in Kentucky. Thanks for the tip.
Mississippi stupid lol
@Mullerornis Mississippi stupid lol
I visited the Cahokia mounds last year. while we were visiting, we learned about how the walls were made and how Monk's Mound was built. We were almost immediately reminded of Motte and Bailey style castles.
If anyone hasn't been to Cahokia, I HIGHLY recommend it. The place is basically a huge mound of dirt, sure, but it puts new meaning to the term "earthwork." There's really no easy comparison to make.
They also have a museum that's worth visiting (although from my recollection, it hasn't changes much since I was a kid 30 years ago).
@@christinacody5845 I am a current volunteer at the interpretative center at Cahokia mounds, and I can say that if you do ever visit again, that there have been additions (a new fossilized canoe for example) and renovations over the past decade. While I wouldn't claim it is a drastically overhauled experience compared to 30 yrs ago (i wasn't alive then so i couldn't really say), i can tell you there are ongoing additions and changes. For example, over the next year they are adding an augmented reality software where people can see plausible images of the buildings and commerce that scatter the mounds.
Our family enjoyed visiting Cahokia. It’s really an amazing place historically and to my memory not well covered in school if at all. The interpretive center is great with descriptive exhibits and a lot of good souvenirs.
@@christinacody5845 worth taking a trip again this year. They just finished a huge renovation of the museum
The museum alone is worth the visit IMO
It needs more documentaries and narrations like the Aztec, Mayan, Inca, And Olmec civilizations get
an impossible problem and something else sanskarimathematics.blogspot.com/2020/11/impossible-problem.html?m=1
@Mullerornis This city died before Columbus arrived, try again.
@@GoodmansGhost Europeans may or may not have had an affect on the downfall of this culture, but there is still a White Supremacy reason why you don't ever hear about them. When the area was discovered by white settlers -despite obviously being a massive archeological find- the settlers didn't believe Indians living this far north could build such cities. "The Aztecs? Sure, but not our Indians." The US refused to acknowledge that it was a city at all and instead taught that it was some really amazing geological feature.
Try a book
@Mullerornis let me remind you that "Native American" and white are blanket terms which each cover groups of peoples with hundreds of languages and traditions. Just as Europeans slaughtered each other for centuries, mutually unintelligible Native American tribes pillaged and warred amongst each other long before mean ol whity came to America
I’m from Cahokia. The modern Cahokia is over 300 years old, and is a few miles from the ancient city. It’s a wonderful site and everyone should visit.
Me too- at least I grew up there.
I was going to note that the map beginning at 10:20 shows _modern_ Cahokia- South of Illinoistown (ESL) and North of Dupo- more clearly than the mound area. Some might be confused by it.
@@WmLatin : My family moved to Cahokia (now Cahokia Heights) in 1967 when I entered middle school. We lived there until I graduated from high school in 1972. I met my future husband there as well. Today, it's not the Cahokia I grew up with. So much dilapidation of the village, many homes burned out. Mine and my husband's family's old homes are still standing but many no longer exist. It looks sad today. A lot of old history in that town still exists with the Jarrot Mansion, the Holy Family Church & school, the old Court House across highway 3. A wonder if the local history of the village is even taught anymore. It was a nice little town.
I used to live their
@@crankycat5222There*
The more I hear and read about the history of North and South America, the more I wish I could know what could've been if the native population was able to remain mostly-undisturbed by European settlers. Like, how differently would it have developed compared to the Afro-Eurasian cultures? I wouldn't exactly be here if happened, and I'll never know what could've been, but I still wish I could know.
I think of this often too. It's quite heartbreaking.
@@Erin-000Cultures rise and fall, nothing to get emotional about.
@ChristoffRevan you okay?
@@Erin-000 The person getting pressed about ancient people they never met having their culture gone is asking ME if I'm ok? Sure buddy, I'm definitely the one that needs help (being sarcastic here if you couldn't tell)
@@ChristoffRevan I can tell the sarcasm but your sentiment is still unclear, are you being genuine? Do you believe it's strange to feel emotional about people that not that long ago were pillaged and raped where I currently live and their great grandchildren are still our neighbors. Have you no empathy?
What I find interesting is how the rise and fall Chaco is roughly contemporaneous with Cahokia. I had ancestors in the Mississippian culture so I assume some may have lived at Cahokia at some point. I don’t know what they called it either. Something pretty big happened over the whole continent from the 1000s to the 1300s, and then it went south.
I was thinking the same thing... Mesa Verde too.
The time period for both corresponds to the Great Drought that occurred during the Medieval Warm Period. When the Drought and the Warm Period end, these sites go into decline.
@@Reedstilt that seems counterintuitive, but I’m sure that had something to do with it. Chaco is so incredibly bone dry that it’s hard to imagine that the climate being warmer or dryer would allow civilization at any level. Much less a huge population center out there. Seems backwards.
@@SwampGas703 indeed. They hung on a bit longer and their biggest building surge was actually right after Chaco was abandoned. But ultimately the same fate. I actually live in the rio grande rift area and the population soared here too in the 1300s and 1400s. I could walk to multiple large Pueblo structures from my house. Probably 20 or more within 5 miles of here. Tyuonyi, Tsankawi, Navawi, Ottowi, Tsirege.... same culture as Chaco more or less. Probably a lot of refugees.
@@RyanAlexanderBloom I'm not entirely sure how the Medieval Warm Period affected the Southwest. The Great Drought technically refers to conditions on the Plains and the Mississippi Valley. It might not have extended to Chaco. I've considered the idea that the drought may have forced people to congregate into smaller areas that remained arable, only to disperse again when conditions improved. Too often the question is framed as "Why did Cahokia fail?" and not "Why did all these smaller successor communities succeed?"
One of my anthropology professors said that one possible collapse scenario that is discussed is that their over-dependence on corn caused them to be well fed but malnourished and eventually it was too difficult to get balanced diets once hunters were having to go further and further from the main mound complex to find game.
I beleive the europeans came as well around that time. So those defensive positions may have been against that. European diseases killed 90% of all aboriginal people around that time.
@@Justin-bv3gi Europeans didn't land in North America until almost 150 years after Cahokia was abandoned.
As much as I love corn, it is not a complete protein. It must be in a diet that includes foods that are already complete (fish, poultry, meat) or eat it with other incomplete, but complementary proteins, like tortillas and beans. Maybe the floods referenced in the video severely effected the food chain.
The Europeans had a similar experience of well-fed,malnourished. I could not persuade the restaurant to serve corn/maize to my group because the Germans thought something was dangerous about it.
@@phenom568 Leif Erikson's group landed in Newfoundland around 1000 CE, and diseases they brought could have travelled across trade routes.
Ah that explains how popcorn is made they use c-4
Good one!
Was searching comments for explosives joke. Was not disappointed.
quality joke friend
Witty... Lol
hah! 🥁
I live about 5 miles from Monks Mound, lived even closer as a kid, we still walk the trails and climb the mound every once in a while. Climbing those steps up Monks Mound really puts the scale into perspective. Great views from the top as well.
The Puebloan culture is really underrated. The cities and culture they built is far less speculative. Since most of the Pueblo’s still exist and their history is pretty well known
B-town woop woop
I've been there. It's fascinating to think that people walked around in that area 1000s of years ago. You can actually see St. Louis from the top of the big mound. It's worth a visit, if you're in STL.
It's difficult to find a place people didn't walked on a thousand years ago.
what really messes me up to think about is the idea that STL was settled & was successful (at least until railroads made river transport less vital) for virtually the same reason Cahokia must have been. two different groups of people, separated by centuries, looked at the confluence of the mississippi & missouri rivers and thought, "that would be a really good place to build a city." the cahokia/greater st louis area was a city and trade hub, abandoned, and then settled as a completely different city and trade hub. in that way the two cities are inextricably linked.
Just started a role-playing game set in Cahokia - Coyote & Crow! Created by an indigenous design team - so cool.
The museum across the road from Monk's Mound has a lot of interesting information, as well as a detailed timeline of the archeological digs that have occurred in the area for over 100 years.
"One thing we so know for sure, these ancient people didn't have any awesome socks, unlike you!"
But... do we really know they didn't have awesome socks?
@@DallasMay If they did, they didn't get them from awesomesocks.club!
I’ve watched Scishow every night before bed since 2013, now I can’t sleep without their voices. When I hear that familiar intro tune it’s like a Pavlovian response, works better than melatonin!
The year 1350? That sounds pretty close to the beginning of the "Little Ice Age". In other words, climate change, possibly leading to crop failures, etc.
Yep also note that the rise of the civilization correlates strongly with the start of the Medieval warm period and the associated Medieval Mega Drought conditions dated from tree rings and sediments to around 900 to 1400 AD or so. In particular most of the Great Plains turned from Grassland to hot desert (complete with rolling sand dunes like the Sahara or parts of Death Valley today) This it seems probable that like Egypt and Sumer over in the old world rapidly expanded when the Middle East Arabia and North Africa dried up the same sort of thing may have taken place in North America. Given that abnormally wet conditions were fairly prevalent through the "Little Ice Age" and the highly stratified and likely oppressive conditions for whoever was stuck in the lower class the people might just have said screw it the rains are back lets go back to living like our ancestors or something.
@LEDewey_MD - Maybe not. Per a certain online encyclopedia : _"The period has been conventionally defined as extending from the 16th to the 19th centuries, but some experts prefer an alternative timespan from about 1300 to about 1850."_ Depends on your expert of choice.
My paleoanthropologist uncle who focused his studies on Native Americans used "cahokia" as an interjection, to mean something like "wow" or "oh my gosh". He also regularly used the word "dickensian" to mean something was dumb or lame. He was such a dork. I miss him.
Wow you had a cool uncle.
Ancient Americans the youtube channel has a fantastic video on cahokia. Selilo falls should have a video too.
I haven't thought about that area and civilization in a long time. I used to have a good fiction novel based in that area. If I remember correctly the authors were a married couple. One was a historian I believe. At any rate, they studied the area, people etc...extensively for the novel so they could depict everything as accurately as possible. It was a really good read. Thank-you so much for the video!!!
People of the Cahokia by Michael & Kathleen Gear. Excellent 4 book series
@@y.pt.1807 Thank-you!!!
Discoveries like this make me annoyed we haven’t preserved more.
How pray tell do you suggest we go back to the 1300’s and preserve this?
How do we preserve untreated wood thats from 700 years ago exactly?
Don’t mind the naysayers. The sites have not been well preserved. So much of the various mounds sites have been destroyed.
Who is « we » in your comment ?
Cultures without writing have always disappeared, that’s life.
Not really. Steppe people didnt use writings as much but they survived. The major problem with destruction of cultures is colonialism for a while.
This is perfect timing. I'm taking American History Pre 1877 as a course in college. Chapter 1 covers the Mississippian culture and the Cahokians only you added scientific information that I didn't know concerning the archaeological processes used where we only learned that it took archaeology to find out about these ancient Americans.
I wish u had more modern day ruin pics so we can get the scope of how big it was
If you have google earth search 'cahokia mounds' turn on terrain in the layers column, and make the view angle go really low - it makes all the mounds pop out and it's fun to see how many you can find
cahokiamounds.org/cahokia-map/
I love this! I grew up about 10 minutes away from this site and visited often growing up. It's a great place to go for a walk and have a picnic! I even have a friend who works at the visitors center
I went there for a field trip in middle school the monk mound was super cool
Native American cultures! Can’t wait to learn about more !
We need more study in precolumbian American history
I live 20 minutes from Cahokia Mounds and I clicked on this 5 seconds after this video was posted
About the same distance on the MO side, clicked on it at 8 minutes.
And you can tell who is near it since we say "Cahokia Mounds" instead of just "Cahokia."🙃
I used to live in St. Louis and visited there 3 times. Pretty fun walking around the place and going into the center.
I'm also fairly close used to live right up the street from there now living west of the lue
Where do you live? I live in Granite city!
@@976eviltitans4 Pinckneyville lol small world
Of course y’all launch a charity sock subscription the year I deep clean my room and find three thousand socks... damn it!
Most school kids go there multiple times in the St. Louis area.
Would love to see a video on the Etowah Mounds in occupied Mvskoke territory, and more content on pre-colonial turtle island generally.
Mvto
Cahokia Mounds is in my birth area in Southern Illinois. It’s a fantastic place to visit- such amazing history!
By St Louis, in Southern Illinois. It's the only thing to see here lol. A lot of stairs though
Yes and I highly recommend you paying attention to your hydration if you decide to climb the mound when there’s a heat index over 100. You might develop heat stroke and feel terrible while driving back to Carbondale... not like I’m speaking from experience or anything... 😔
Here is referring to Southern Illinois. Which is the place I live, implied by the sentence structure and the video content. I am educated. There are other comments with far worse grammar than mine. You must be bored to harass an unpopular comment of a 6 month old video...
Corn: When in doubt, use C4
I love it
I don't really understand the reference, but I agree.
@@Xaiff c4 is also an explosive, maybe that's what he was referencing..
@@Xaiff people not getting Mythbuster references is making me very sad and old feeling
@@darrenswails Isn't it also a specific type of photosynthesis that uses less water or is my memory broken?
3:35 "If you have a lot of C-4 plants, they will leave a specific signature behind."
Yeah. A smoking crater. 😉
Oops to much C4
11:23 "We may not know what socks Middle Mississippians wore, but we know which ones you're going to!"
>North America
You seem to mean "North America, excluding anything south of the U.S." considering there were much older cities in Mexico.
I’d guess this is a case of US bias - students here are often taught to separate the continent into North America, Central America, and South America
@@emyoswald As a US person who went to school here and everything, it's still pretty weird to me to exclude Mexico from "North America".
But I guess they just wanted to exclude Central America because it gets a lot of attention when talking about pre-columbian civilizations (and pre-columbian civilizations already don't get much attention anyways)
They are just mad at people telling them correctly that "America" (USA) is only about 500 years old.
Lol it is, no matter how many ancient civilizations existed before, you killed them all now you can't claim their civilizations for yourself.
Generally, Historians separate between North America, Mesoamerica, and South America when it comes to precolumbian american history.
Yeah my first thought was "the Olmecs were in North America since 1200 BCE."
This is very interesting. I live in Cahokia currently and we aren’t really taught the history of this place. Loved this video👍🏾
Me, listening to this vid with only half a brain:
"Oh, so C4 plants caused a big bang. Cool"
same
So- what you're telling me, John, is that corn is basically... THE BOMB!?!? ...I always knew corn was cool.
I wonder if Cahocia had contact to Aztecs, I think yes. Because the architecture resembles that of Mexico.
Indeed, the Cahokian architecture is based off from the influences of the old civilizations which is in Mexico but the Mexicas didn't necessarily have anything to do with Cahokian civilization, it is said that the Mexica ancestors, before they started Aztlan, they had helped and Influence the people of the south, north and Midwest, there is evidence shown that the Seminole nation of Florida gave substantial knowledge to the Mississippian people or Cahokian people from their ancestors, the Mayans.
The only people who can be credited to the Cahokian civilization are the people who built it and lived it.
Watching this from on top of the Monks mound at Cahokia. Thanks so much!!
I know this video is a few years old now, but if you're interested in this subject, Milo Rossi (miniminuteman) has a really good video on Cahokia too
The one AncientAmericas did is also excellent.
Last time I was this early, they were still crossing the Bering Strait.
@Martin Ramirez
We're all the same species, so at some point we probably crossed it one direction or another. Current evidence suggests migration was eastward from Asia. How is this a Eurocentric issue?
Interesting viewpoint...?
@Martin Ramirez
They crossed the Bering Strait before they diverged into a separate race (and before most modern races existed). Under the current theory, all Homo Sapiens came initially out of Africa. Sure, you had what we could call races (regional differences) and certain populations are believed to have mingled with other Homo species, but they weren't the same races we have now. If modern theories of the spread of humans are correct then at one point your ancestors crossed the Bering Strait.
They can't have already been there unless they evolved convergently from a similar ancestor which would make the two populations separate species.
@Martin Ramirez one species has one origins, from one population, in one place. Otherwise it would not be one species, and interbreeding would be impossible. That is a simple biological fact. It is impossible for populations of different origins to interbreed. Yet we have 300+ million mestizos in the world.
Also, there is a lot of evidence of migration through Bering strait, including the genetic relatedness of most ancient Siberian ethnic groups to Native Americans, some cultural similarities, archaeological evidence, palaeogenetics etc. Why is genetic similarity between Native Americans and North Asians bigger than between some ethnic groups in Africa? Because human species originated in Africa so it has the biggest genetic diversity.
Surely, there are some people who want to use those scientific facts to promote their stupid white supremacist beliefs, but they can be shut down without denying the actual facts. In reality "indigenous" means the people who were first somewhere, whether they migrated or not, and Native Americans are indigenous, they developed cultures and languages right in the Americas, so earlier migration should not compromise the indigenous status of those groups.
Please don't confuse the actual science and ideologues who misuse it for their gain
@Martin Ramirez
Absolutely no one disputes that the indigenous populations were there first long, long before even the earliest Viking-era European settlements in the Americas. Key word: First, not always.
Europe has nothing to do with crossing the Bering Strait from Asia. What exactly is this European fantasy?
The way Cahokia seems to have swiftly ended seems to bear Aztec / Mayan undertones, what with stratification, defense, population boom. Would love to know more. A lot more.
What a genius idea, I used to wear my socks a whole year till I get new Jones from granny at christmas, changing every month Sure is an upgrade.
I like it.
I LOVE modern anthropologists and archeologists of today because they actually TELL THE TRUTH about what they discover and, try to theorize instead of glorifying Europeans (breaking noses off of ancient artifacts), regardless if it makes them UNPOPULAR or not… THANK YOU to ALL OF YOU!
I have no idea who you’re referencing.
Ja! As if dude. Teotihuacàn is way older than cahokia, tis is stll anglospheric
Increased food production allowed for more free time , gives rise to tradesmen and artisans , gives rise to more civic projects .
I love how this video was a subtle exploration of “we can learn a lot about people even without written records” ! 😆
this is fascinating but i also can't help but wonder how much history about this place may have been lost over centuries of colonization, genocide, and systematic destruction of indigenous culture and oral tradition
The city itself didn't fall to European colonizers, but you're right that its memory may have been destroyed, which would just be another in the long list of tragedies and horrors felt by the first peoples of this continent.
Hopefully a day comes soon when humans live peacefully, without causing misery to our fellows.
@@artemis_smith i know the city didn't fall to colonizers, i just watched the same video you did lol
Cahokia mounds as it appears today was once apart of a much larger "Greater Cahokia" that stretched all the way to St. Louis. However, as St. Louis developed in the 1800s many of the mounds there were destroyed - imagine how it would look now if it was all intact - a skyline of mounds
So corn uses C-4 photosynthesis. That explains popcorn: little explosions .
Few games I played in Civ V Cahokia almost always spawn near the Iroquois and is conquered before I encounter them.
This is amazingly well done! Unfortunately the interpretive center (museum) is closed right now but the grounds are still open! You can walk up Monks Mound and go check out the fascinating Mound 72 and WoodHenge.
Hank Green is sponsoring Hank Green and I’m here for it.
"Cahokia might have quite a diverse population"
Quite the same as present day USA.
"Social unrest, Defensive Palisade Wall"
Yup, it is pretty much the same as present day USA.
Definitely a microcosm of present day America
Well, afaik bill gates does not plan on having his workers be buried with him.
@Tonto Y Quiennosabe and how do you know that
@Tonto Y Quiennosabe "The Great Sun" refers specifically to the leader of the Natchez in Louisiana, who was the highest ranked man of the Sun caste, (the Sun Woman / Female Sun) was the highest ranked woman of the Sun caste, and was typically the Great Sun's sister or aunt. Since the title of Great Sun passed matrilineally, the Sun Woman / Female Sun's child would be the heir, not the Great Sun's kids. Archaeologically, the Natchez are associated with the Plaquemine Mississippians of the lower Mississippi, not the Middle Mississippians.
The various Dhegihan peoples (the Osage, Omaha, Kansa, and others) are thought to be the ones most closely related to the Middle Mississippians. Historically, the Osage had a diarchy of sorts, being led by two "gahige" - one from the Crane Clan of the Sky Moiety and one from the Star-That-Came-To-Earth Clan of the Earth Moiety, who served as the "Peace Chief" and "War Chief" respectively. They shared power with the Nonhonzhinga, the elder council. How much of this can be "upstreamed" to Cahokia several centuries earlier is possible to say. But similarly, we can't assume that the political structure of the Natchez in the early 1700s accurately reflects the system employed by their Mississippian ancestors in the 1300s either. Though we do know that one notable, late Plaquemine Mississippian leader, Quigualtum, mocked the idea of a European claiming to be the avatar of the sun in the mid-1500s.
And, of course, the Southeastern Mississipians - mostly associated with Muskogean peoples - had yet another system of governance. We know the most about them in the 1500s, an they didn't use "Great Suns" like the Natchez did. They were lead by miccos (among the Muscogee proper), nicos (among the Apalachee), mingos (among the Chickasaw - this one should not be confused with the Mingoes of the Ohio Valley, a neo-Iroquoian identity that emerged in the 1700s in the Ohio Valley) and similar titles. These titles would all remain in place long after what archaeologists refer to as the Mississippian paradigm shifted to the colonial era's grand confederacies.
15 minutes away from me. The museum is GREAT! Don't miss this if you're in the STL area.
One thing you didn't mention is that they had a wood henge there. They conducted astronomical studies at the site.
If you are reading this, have a good day.
Cahokia is an interesting topic, because even though thier is very little archeological remains of the city, thier is still enough thier to determine that thier was, in fact, a city there.
What is even more amazing is that the city likely served as an economic & cultural hub for the surrounding tribes.
This is an aMAIZEing story!
Haha I know. Corny jokes. Signs of an advanced civilization.
Cahokia - a trade-focused city-state with great bonuses - including the ability to construct the Cahokia Mound which gives +3 gold, +1 amenity (capped at +2), +1 food for every 2 adjacent districts or every district, and +1 housing - when you are their suzerain in Civ VI.
Glad to learn more here. Honestly, one should just research everything in Civ.
Of course there was a population boom. That's what happens when you eat all that C-4.
I loved Cahokia I used to go all the time its really impressive understanding how large it really was
If popular culture taught me anything it's that C4 plants go boom. So, I guess that's why they disappeared?
Is this a joke?
@@zing1954 yes. 🤣
@@MarieAxelsson oops to much C4
i´m thinking it explains pop corn...
@@danieleriksson4270 or joe biden's corn Pop 🤣
Living in St Louis, and recently I finally learned about the hills that were deatroyed as the city was built. I don't live far from Cahokia at all.
That was *really* interesting! I've recently been learning more about the cultures of North America (mostly via RUclips videos like this one, if I'm honest!), and there's just so much I've never known!!
This one was a stretch and a lot of speculations on the early part. But the science on point like always 👌.
I haven’t visited Cahokia (yet), but I did visit the Aztalan Mississippian site outside of Madison WI in September. It was pretty fascinating to see what was left behind, imagine what life was like for people living there and interacting with other groups of people, learn about the history of how people found the site, and the efforts to restore its Indigenous Sovereignty. You can find a list of other smaller Mississippian culture sites here: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Mississippian_sites?wprov=sfti1
This was one of the best! Thank you
Related reading:
1491: New Revelations of the Americas Before Columbus by Charles Mann
Great book! Also an interesting read, 1493, Uncovering the New World Columbus Created, by the same author. A great and accessible account of the effect the discovery had on the whole world. For example, how both the Columbian Exchange, and silver mining in Peru had significant ramifications for China, fueling both a rise in exports, and a population boom and a further southward shift of its demographic balance.
It's a good book, but it's even really outdated now (which happens to books over time). It really needs a new updated version. So many discoveries have been made over the past 15 years.
@@DallasMay Any recommendations for other other more up-to-date books on the subject?
@@fordhouse8b I don't. Not of the same scope.
I wish I did.
@@DallasMay Thanks.
I imagine the discovery of C-4 corn was fairly explosive news at the time...
Clear Aztec-Mayan type of civilization and migration there. Sadly they didn't have easy access to stone, what would've left not only fascinating ruins but more clues.
Awesome! I’d love to see a video on the Hopewell Culture as well!!
Corn uses C-4? I don't think someone as nervous as Quetzalcoatl should handle high explosives.
(No Evil reference)
I remember visiting Cahokia. It was rather impressive to see the vast quantity of dirt moved by primitive technology.
@Scumfuck McDouchefaceyeah, and not even service pack 3 or 2.
What do you call primitive technology though ? They didn't have steel beams and bulldozers when they were building Notre Dame de Paris
@@lapincealinge2 I call baskets and hands primitive tech
@@thomasmcgormley9100 ah yes I see, these folks had a tad more than that though
@@thomasmcgormley9100 no
Why did the scary man start to scream at us about socks Mommy?
🧦🧦🧦
I love 5 miles from Diffenbaugh earthworks in PA and it's in a cow field on private land. Was excavated in the 60s I think but needs a review. It'd be a shame to lose it.
Sometimes I feel bad about how comparatively little we know about pre colonial Native American societies, but then I watch videos like this and wonder how much we’ve just overlooked.
Good stuff
This was my favourite part of early history in university - something we rarely get taught about in schools
This needs to be spoken and said!
Amazing what we can find out by piecing together many clues. I would love any follow ups on this topic. Thanks!
People forget our rain seasons we get that happen in the south. Some rivers have verbal stories that locals still tell about a “hundred years flood” that washes river banks and tears down homes of those that choose to build in the flood plains.
This is old traditions that we keep because an immediate flood of that size can destroy even the mightiest of earthworks.
Makes me ever more impressed with how developed Rome was at the same time, or the Egyptians were 2000 years earlier.
Cahokia is absolutely not North America's first city. There were cities in Mexico and Central America long before Cahokia. Tikal (which is mentioned in this video), predates Cahokia by almost 1,000 years.
THANK YOU we need more vids like this!!! some more vids on other less known indigenous civilizations would be awesome!
How To Find Locals: Who calls it "Cahokia Mounds".
Anyway, fun fact: Cahokia Mounds may be nearby Cahokia the Town, but it's under the jurisdiction of a different town.
Let’s make a map of an honorable Native American tribe using COMIC SANS?
Well yeah duh it is a very reputable font
The easiest widely available font for dyslexics to read.
"honorable"
You don’t need to get offended at literally everything, chill
Really....
I'd be willing to bet some middle mississippians went to south America or even some relocating south Americans lended knowledge. Tenochtitlan wasn't far from Mississippi
Wish folks would convert to the Holocene Calendar. Puts things into better perspective.
A fellow Kurzgesagt fan I presume?
I don't think it helps much
I was just reading about this location & the people from a book. This is a nice synthesis
synopsis*
this is the earliest i've been to a scishow video
Same.
That was a pretty good treatment of this mysterious and fascinating subject. Thank you, SciShow, for making it. I had the privilege of visiting Cahokia and climbing Monk's Mound a few months ago - you can see the Saint Louis skyline from the top. It's much higher up than it seems from the ground! The fact that it was built by manual labor, moving materials basket by basket - and the fact that there are hundreds of other mounds built the same way - is so overwhelming and impressive.
I challenge anyone not to be moved by the audacity and ingenuity of our Native American forebears when they see Cahokia. We must better protect these sites, and protect and cherish our Native brothers and sisters who live today as well.
Can you bring back scishow quiz show? Pleeeaase
I just now realized the Awesome Sock logo is wearing socks! I just thought it was half white
I have to wonder if Cahokia experienced something like the bronze age collapse and european settlers came before they could bounce back.
I grew up in the Saint Louis metro area. The River basins around there are still used for agriculture to the present day, especially for corn.
Europeans did not name it, Cahokia is a native word from the people who were living in the region when the Europeans go there.
Do we know this was the name of the archaeological site when it was a large settlement?
So Europeans did name it then... Thats how naming something after someone works... Naming something doesn't mean you invented a new name.
@@jacksonbittner9337if I asked you what your name was, and you told me, I wouldn’t be naming you now would I?
@@goodnight.punpun5408it wasn't the name of the city, it was the name of a tribe that was living in the area when Europeans arrived.
Next time you advertize your sock company thingy, don't marget it like "reduces hassle of buying socks". Rather on the good willed nature of the project like "by getting this sock subscription you help to save mothers and their babies and get a nice pair of sock to remind you of your good deed". Just a though
Corn, Squash, potatoes and Beans still feed the world today.
The native americans who domesticated and selectively bred those crops are long gone to colonialism.... Yet we still owe them our lives for not starving to death
what u on about ?
How are they long gone due to colonialism? You guys didn't bring mortality to our continent