Cahokia was a city located east of St. Louis, Missouri, and made up of many large earthen mounds. This city was the largest pre-Columbus city north of Mexico and was a thriving community for around four centuries (Seppa,1997). There have been many speculations surrounding the possible religious aspects of Cahokians. It is difficult to determine the religious beliefs or practices of these people, as there was little time given to excavate and it has been demolished since then.

Many theories around Cahokian religion support the notion that constellations played an important role in Cahokian religion. The practice of Cahokian descendants “observing religion based on earth and sky Gods including the Morning and Evening stars”(Pauketat, 2009, 20) was documented by French and Spanish colonizers. It is also believed that the mounds of Cahokia were made concerning celestial events, specifically the patterns of the moon and sun. This theory can be seen in Emerald, whose mounds are also linked to constellations, specifically the moon and its patterns, Emerald appears to be a smaller version of Cahokia connected by a road (Ahmad, 2023). Emerald is thought to be more of a religious destination than the bustling community of Cahokia. The mounds of Emerald are thought to have been built for religious reasons. “Over the past four years, excavations at Emerald have uncovered two dozen half-buried structures with burned materials in their hearths and a striking yellow plaster on their floors. Alt believes these are “shrine houses” that people would visit as part of a personal spiritual practice”(Witze, 2016). These mounds are hypothesized to be in some ways an attempt to be closer to god or the spirits above. There have been many remnants of burnt structures that are thought to have religious meaning, this has been documented in both Cahokia and Emerald. Although it is believed that Emerald held most of the religious ceremonies there is evidence that some of Cahokia’s mounds were religion-based too. Sculptures of Goddesses and powerful animals have been found in Cahokia, emphasizing the religious practices of Cahokians. During the excavation of Mound 34 at Cahokia, the archeologists found lots of buried shark teeth, beads, and arrow points. During a later excavation, they realized there had been a building atop this mound that had been burnt down and these charred remnants were dropped on the terrace below likely with religious intention (Witze, 2016). “They argue that Cahokians may have conducted a series of rituals at the mound, perhaps enlarging it in an effort to bring earthly activities closer to the sky above”(Witze, 2016). Although it is difficult to pin down precisely what the Cahokians believed or what their religious values were it seems clear that religion played an important role in Cahokian’s lives.

Future Research:

https://www.templeton.org/grant/the-foundations-of-ancient-american-indian-religion-and-civilization-at-cahokias-emerald-shrine

https://www.nps.gov/articles/000/cahokia-mounds-state-historic-site-world-heritage-site.htm

References:

Ahmad, Fazal. “Places of Worship – Cahokia Mounds.” The Review of Religions, 29 Aug. 2023, www.reviewofreligions.org/42797/places-of-worship-cahokia-mounds/.

Anwar, Yasmin. “New Study Debunks Myth of Cahokia’s Native American Lost Civilization.” Berkeley, news.berkeley.edu/2020/01/27/new-study-debunks-myth-of-cahokias-native-american-lost-civilization. Accessed 5 Nov. 2023.

Bowdoin, Susan. “Religion and the Rise of Cahokia.” The Archaeological Conservancy, 12 Mar. 2016, www.archaeologicalconservancy.org/religion-and-the-rise-of-cahokia/.

Pauketat, Timothy. “Ancient American Goddesses on Display.” ILLINOIS, 2 Feb. 2018, news.illinois.edu/view/6367/607716.

Pauketat, Timothy R. Cahokia: Ancient America’s Great City on the Mississippi. Penguin Books, 2010.

Seppa, Nathan. “Metropolitan Life on the Mississippi.” The Washington Post, WP Company, www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/national/daily/march/12/cahokia.htm. Accessed 5 Nov. 2023.

Witze, Alexandra. “Religion and the Rise of Cahokia.” Issuu, from American Archaeology Magazine | Spring 2016 | Vol. 20 No. 1by American Archaeology Magazine, 27 July 2021, issuu.com/americanarchaeologymagazine/docs/aam-spr-2016/s/12948966#:~:text=Religion%20was%20not%20just%20a,one%20of%20Cahokia’s%20smaller%20mounds.

Dendrochronology is the scientific method of dating events and understanding environmental changes through the study of tree rings. A subfield of dendrochronology is dendroclimatology which focuses specifically on climatic events, using these tree rings to understand past climates. Tree rings can be very useful in studying big-picture patterns and analysis. If a year is particularly dry the tree’s rings will show up thinner, and on wetter years a tree’s rings are thicker creating a yearly outline of the climate centuries back. Dendrochronology works well in more arid climates, where the trees’ ring growth is more sensitive to environmental changes than trees in humid tropical areas. In the Arctic, and in other countries at high altitudes the size of tree rings correlates not with moisture but with temperature. There trees have thinner rings with the cold and thicker rings with warmth.

The Western U.S. and areas of the Americas, specifically Chile, have a very arid climate which has helped dendroclimatologists understand the climate patterns of this area. There are also some very old trees in the California area which helps to date back centuries. There have been many studies on the trees in these areas as the process works well with the climate and is more clear than in other places. Studies from the Western U.S. have shown a pattern of severe droughts happening about once a century, although only a few are officially classified as megadroughts. Studies on tree stumps underwater have also lined up with the pattern of severe drought. These stumps showed a megadrought that lasted for decades, allowing these trees to grow in streams and lakes. This severe drought was made significantly worse by the effect of humans on the climate. In the Americas, specifically Chile dendroclimatologists discovered a similar pattern to that of the Western U.S. There has been a once-a-century megadrought in the Americas throughout history. These are often preceded by a warm North Atlantic Ocean, rising global temperatures, and a change in the relationship between La Nina and El Nino. With the changes in climate change scientists are concerned that these droughts will become significantly worse. In the late 1500s, there was an incredibly severe megadrought that lasted decades, and today looking at the charts we are reaching similar levels of drought, which is increased by human activity.

Both the studies in the Americas and in the Western U.S. show that human activity accounts for roughly 46% of the increased severity of the drought. Dendroclimatology can show us the patterns in climate we should be prepared for but can also showcase how human activity worsens and exaggerates natural patterns.

Further Research:

https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/622755

https://yaleclimateconnections.org/2022/08/how-climate-change-spurs-megadroughts/

https://www.globalwaterforum.org/2021/06/08/we-found-a-secret-history-of-megadroughts-written-in-tree-rings-the-wheatbelts-future-may-be-drier-than-we-thought/

References:

Chang, Alvin. “What Tree Rings Reveal about America’s Megadrought – A Visual Guide.” The Guardian, Guardian News and Media, www.theguardian.com/us-news/ng-interactive/2021/jun/17/tree-rings-america-megadrought-visual. Accessed 17 Sept. 2023.

Nash, Stephen E. “Tree Rings Are Evidence of the Megadrought-and Our Doom.” SAPIENS, 30 Jan. 2023, www.sapiens.org/archaeology/tree-rings-are-evidence-of-the-megadrought-and-our-doom/.

Voosen, Paul. “A Warning from Ancient Tree Rings: The Americas Are Prone to … – AAAS.” Science, 2019, www.science.org/content/article/warning-ancient-tree-rings-americas-are-prone-catastrophic-simultaneous-droughts.