The Cahokians consumed vast quantities of wood not only for firewood but also for the construction of struc-tures, including the stockade, which periodically had to be rebuilt; just the
Trang 1The Cahokian culture essentially evaporated by about
the end of the 14th century No one is certain why, but
histo-rians offer a number of theories Chief among them is
envi-ronmental degradation, warfare, or some combination of the
two The Cahokians built a stockade around the city in about
1100, suggesting that some of their neighbors were not on
en-tirely friendly terms with them Then, as the population grew,
resources became scarcer Small increases in the water level
of the surrounding rivers could have made large portions of
cropland unusable
The Cahokians consumed vast quantities of wood not
only for firewood but also for the construction of
struc-tures, including the stockade, which periodically had to be
rebuilt; just the stockade consumed about 20,000 relatively
large trees Deforestation caused soil erosion, further
reduc-ing the amount of tillable land available to a growreduc-ing
pop-ulation and creating marshlike conditions in many places
along the rivers People had to go farther and farther away
to find firewood, and game animals became scarcer At the
same time, buffalo herds began to appear to the west,
per-haps luring people away from the crowded city to the plains,
where meat was plentiful—much as modern-day people
move in response to changes in the labor market, housing
prices, and similar economic factors Other Mississippian
cultures up and down the river were becoming more
power-ful As a result of any or all of these factors, the economic
system of the Cahokians collapsed, taking with it the entire
population
Economic patterns in Mesoamerica continued those
estab-lished during the ancient period Mesoamerica was inhabited
by a succession of large and powerful city-states that relied
on agriculture and trade for survival These cultures also left
behind a considerable amount of monumental architecture
Numerous civilizations from Mesoamerica could be
cited, but perhaps the most dominant one during the
pre-Co-lumbian period was that of the Maya The reach of the Mayan
civilization extended throughout northern Central America
It included modern-day Guatemala, Belize, and parts of
El Salvador and Honduras as well as the Mexican states of
Tabasco, Chiapas, and, on the Yucatán Peninsula, Yucatán,
Campeche, and Quintana Roo Historians conventionally
di-vide Mayan history into three periods The earliest, the
Pre-classic, extended back into the centuries before the Common
Era until about 250 c.e During the Classic Period, from about
250 to 900, Mayan civilization reached its zenith Sometime
around 900 Mayan civilization went into decline and
even-tually collapsed Its position as the dominant Mesoamerican
culture would later be assumed by the Aztec, the people the
Spanish conquistadors encountered on their voyages to the New World in the 16th century
The Mayan Classic Period was a period of intense eco-nomic activity Mayan culture was highly urbanized, with major cities including Palenque, Calakmul, Chichén Itzá, Caracol, Copán, and smaller cities including Bonampak, Al-tun Ha, Dos Pilas, and UaxacAl-tun Most of these cities were located in the southern lowlands, though there were some population centers in the northern highlands One of the Maya’s most significant economic activities was pyramid construction For example, Calakmul is the site of the larg-est pyramid platform, at almost 150 feet squared, to have survived from the Classic Period, but numerous other pyr-amids, used primarily for ceremonial purposes, are found throughout the region Additionally, the Maya produced an extraordinary number of temples, administrative buildings, palaces, monuments, and stone slabs celebrating the lives of rulers Unfortunately, many of these buildings and monu-ments were made of soft, chalky limestone, so time has not been kind to them
Mayan society was highly stratified, with a king at the top, a relatively small number of clan rulers, and a large
peas-Black limestone mask, Santiago Ahuizotla, Mexico, 150 b.c.e to
700 c.e.; masks like this one, in the Teotihuacán style, were brought
to the Aztec capital as tribute after wars (© The Trustees of the British Museum)
316 economy: The Americas