Fresh look at burials, mass graves, tells a new story of Cahokia

[rangerrebew]

Fresh look at burials, mass graves, tells a new story of Cahokia

Date:
    August 4, 2016
Source:
    University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Summary:
    A new study challenges earlier interpretations of an important burial mound at Cahokia, a pre-Columbian city in Illinois near present-day St. Louis. The study reveals that a central feature of the mound, a plot known as the 'beaded burial,' is not a monument to male power, as was previously thought, but includes both males and females of high status.
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FULL STORY
New studies offer insight into the people who lived, died and were buried in mass graves in the pre-Columbian city of Cahokia, near present-day St. Louis.
Credit: Image courtesy Cahokia Mounds State Historic Site, painting by William R. Iseminger.

A new study challenges earlier interpretations of an important burial mound at Cahokia, a pre-Columbian city in Illinois near present-day St. Louis. The study reveals that a central feature of the mound, a plot known as the "beaded burial," is not a monument to male power, as was previously thought, but includes both males and females of high status.

The new study, published in the journal American Antiquity, is one of several recent analyses of the site from researchers at the Illinois State Archaeological Survey at the University of Illinois and their colleagues at other institutions. All of the studies confirm the presence of males and females in the beaded burial.

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2016/08/160804135436.htm

[roamer_1]

@SunkenCiv

GGG ping

[mystery-ak]

I know Cahokia Mounds well. I used to go there all the time when I was growing up.

They have since built a nice museum to see all the artifacts.

[SunkenCiv]

@SunkenCiv GGG ping.

Thanks for the ping!

[SunkenCiv]

@SunkenCivGGG ping

Climbed that mound around 40 years ago, there was a view of the partial reconstruction of a palisade at that time, and very little else going on.  I'd first read about it in, probably, Argosy Magazine, or True.

[roamer_1]

Climbed that mound around 40 years ago, there was a view of the partial reconstruction of a palisade at that time, and very little else going on.  I'd first read about it in, probably, Argosy Magazine, or True.

If I ever go back east, ever again, this is one of the things I'd really like to take the time to investigate a bit.
Another is the Piasa bird in Alton, IL - Take a look at that sometime, and tell me that it isn't a rendering of a western-style dragon... Quite a story there...

[SunkenCiv]

If I ever go back east, ever again, this is one of the things I'd really like to take the time to investigate a bit. Another is the Piasa bird in Alton, IL - Take a look at that sometime, and tell me that it isn't a rendering of a western-style dragon... Quite a story there...

Wow, dang, and news to me:

Piasa bird in Alton, IL

Looks pretty modern, recent, but reported in the 17th c, so, at the very worst, merely retouched over the years.

[roamer_1]

Wow, dang, and news to me:Looks pretty modern, recent, but reported in the 17th c, so, at the very worst, merely retouched over the years.

No I think that is a facsimile... an accurate reproduction from photos. IIRC. I think the original was destroyed in the 60/70s as the rock it was on was harvested (rock quarry),  likewise the 'cave full of men's bones' where the creature was purported to live - Though documented before it's destruction...

Like I said though, the depiction and the legend are incredible in the resemblance to a western style dragon, right in the midst of the American continent... A place wherein one would not expect such a thing merely by transmission. One could, I suppose, assume early Celtic contact passed the dragon to these folks, having first navigated the Great Lakes, and there are some other meager evidences toward that...

But it is remarkable as an anthropological OOPART, in the least - and if one chooses to believe the native legend, one of an ancient origin.

[SunkenCiv]

Lots of recent-years info has emerged:

http://www.freerepublic.com/tag/cahokia/index

(psst!  don't tell JimRob there's a *keyword* for Cahokia)

[SunkenCiv]

Here are the links to the original articles, processed from the FR keyword:

America's Forgotten City [National Geographic]
America's Largest Earthwork, Cahokia's Monks Mound, May Have Been Built in Only 20 Years, Study Says [Western Digs]
Ancient Illinois Village Unearths Lode Of Questions [University Of Illinois]
Birdman Tablet Discovered during Excavations at the East Lobe of Monks Mound [1971] [Cahokia Mounds Museum Society]

Swansea woman donates birdman tablet to Mounds[Illinois] [News-Democrat]

Cahokia's Woodhenge: a supprising implication [sic] [Examiner.com]
Copper men: Archaeologists uncover Stone Age copper workshop near Monk's Mound [News-Democrat]
Did a Mega-Flood Doom Ancient American City of Cahokia? [National Geographic]
Epic Fire Marked 'Beginning of the End' for Ancient Culture of Cahokia, New Digs Suggest [Western Digs]
The First US City Was Full of Immigrants [LiveScience]
Human sacrifice! Archaeologist creates stir with new book on Cahokia Mounds [BND]
Infamous Mass Grave of Young Women in Ancient City of Cahokia Also Holds Men: Study [Western Digs]
Lost cities #8: mystery of Cahokia -- why did North America's largest city vanish? [The Guardian]
Much Still To Be Learned About Cahokia Mounds [Examiner]
New technique helps solve mystery of ancient figurines (Cahokia) [EurekAlert!]
Researchers find evidence of ritual use of 'black drink' at Cahokia [Heritage Daily]
Science explains ancient copper artifacts [Northwestern University]
A Stone Pyramid At Cahokia, Illinois [St. Louis Dispatch]