Chapter 1

A Day in Cahokia - AD 1030

Summary
        In this chapter, a historian travels through the ancient, advanced river-side metropolis in North America, called Cahokia. The year is 1030 A.D., and she is accompanied by a young man from the elite of the civilization. That day, a great chief is being buried and there is an air of great excitement and anticipation. Her guide leads her through the enormous city and explains how it is built around the sacred circles at the four cardinal points of the compass. She takes in the sights of the many mounds (including the Great One) and the lives of the residents.
        Finally, it comes time for the ritual. Many attend, showing the expansive reach of Cahokia, and the respect that is shown toward it and its chief is illustrated by elaborate gifts and human sacrifices buried with him, including "precious mica" and the bodies of 50 young women. The historian concludes by stating the causes of Cahokia's power and influence: its size, trading network, unprecedented sophistication, skilled engineers, and more.

Reflection
       What interested me most about Cahokia were all the mounds. What was their point? What was so special about them, and who decided to build them? Plus, why bury ancestors in the summits? The impressive residence of the Lord of Cahokia shocked me as well. How did he come to be so high above everyone else, and why did the aristocrats get such better lives as well? That kind of unfairness is  relevant even today. The quality of the clothes and culture surprised me too.
       The part that confused me, however, was all the objects and bodies that were buried with the chief. For one, why is he facedown? Why are the young men and women so willing to be murdered, and why were some of the bodies missing their heads and hands? I suppose all civilizations have different beliefs and customs that us outsiders can't begin to understand.