ANTH 210 Lecture Notes - Lecture 20: Serpent Mound, Marshall Sahlins, Chunkey
20 Jul 2015
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Document Summary
Ceremonial, ritual dimension of cahokia paul weatley. Food production: full time farmers (corns, squash, starchy grains; oily seeds like sunflowers, supplemented with wild plant and animal resources, no evidence of intensive agriculture, corn was main form in which tribute was paid. In front of monk"s mound: massive open spaces, range of ceremonial activities and public events (thousands of attendants, associated with massive feasts, people who came from else where also brought a little bit of cahokia back with them. Monk"s mound: overlooks the 10 ha great plaza, massive earthen structure, with 3 or 4 terraces. 30m height summit was residence of the king intended to evoke sacred mountains. Woodhenge had an astronomical/calendrical function not just about shadows on poles abut also alignment with other monuments and mounds in line with paul wheatley"s idea of cities. Increase in cosmopolitan nature migration of people into the site and raw material comes from all over the place (from mexico to the great lakes)
