We have spent the last two blogs looking at impressive feats of architecture and human ingenuity via the Aztecs and Incas. This week we will spend some time looking at an impressive culture much closer to us.
Near St. Louis, MO, about 1,000 years ago, the Mississippians built series of "mound settlements" that became little/mid-sized cities. The most well known of these sites was Cahokia, which grew to 20,000 people. These settlements were centers of trade, agriculture and entertainment for the natives.
Watch this video and read this article about Cahokia and the Mississippians. Do you see any similarities and/or differences between the Mississippians, Aztecs and Incas? What was the most interesting thing you learned?
The Cahokias and Mississippians were very interesting people. The most interesting thing to me was that they had a set of laws from their god. (So they had a set of rules which, when you think about it is kind of like the Ten Commandments in the Bible.) The Mississippians were like the Inuits and the Aztecs in several ways. For instance they all traded a lot. The Mississippians traded with people from everywhere. All the way from the Gulf of Mexico to the Great Lakes region the Mississippians traded. Another thing is they all raised a lot of maize, or corn. The point of it all is that the Aztecs, the Inuits, and the Mississippians had more in common than some may have thought, and the Mississippians were very interesting too.
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The Mississippians had a unique culture. They lived by the standards their sun god gave them, but still were a very lost group of people. In a spiritual view, they are a another example of good works not allowing you to be saved by the blood of Jesus, but tradition and culture made them do what they did. The Mississippians were known for their large mounds used for burial and decoration. The large mounds would take up years in work. From that we can see that they were a very determined group of people, and wouldn’t stop working until the job was done. The most interesting thing I learned was that they lived in actual houses, however, it wasn’t too big of a surprise considering all the mounds they constructed. Like the Aztecs and the Incas, the Mississippians used maize (corn) to make traditional foods from their cultures, as well as trading. Needless to say, all cultures in the early American times had similarities because they all basically came from the same ancestors, but the Mississippians had the most unique culture.
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The Missisipians and Cahokia were very unique compared to the other tribes, they lived by "standards the gods gave them" which was probably just someone who made it up. Someone from there culture thought just like most of the world does today, good works=Heaven, but it isn't that way. Mississippians built tons of mounds for many reasons, all across America. Some were HUGE and were used for burial sites, others were smaller and used for Temples on top. They didn't have bulldozers either, so it was all made by hand, which is insane cause some of these mounds are a hundred feet tall! All of the tribes back then used maize (well, if they grew crops) for a main source of food. The Mississippians were probably the most unique in my opinion though, because of the insanely huge mountains. (139)
ReplyDeleteThe Mississippians had a very interesting background. For example they had some one who basically claimed to be God come to their village. He then gave them rule that they should follow so they can live their lives the right way. The group pretty much made him their God and if he said to do something they did it without any question or judgment. They then made sort of “Royal Mountain” that was bigger than any pyramid in Egypt. It was ten stories high and sixteen acres at the base. I think that’s cool because they followed him whole heartedly and wee still don’t follow God like they followed him. Although they were still lost they followed their god more than some christains follow the real God. But some of the similarities of the tribe are that they all had to grow all their food. So every civilization had farmers. But every civilization relied on trade. The reason this was such a big resource is some groups didn’t have a money system. So the more that trade increased the more wealth they would have and the wealth they had the more power they had. So if they had the most power they could conquer other groups and expand their empire. That was the impotents of trade. That is what I think the coolest thing about the mound builders is and the similarities of the two groups.
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The Mississippians are very interesting. They lived in a vanished culture along the Mississippi river. They would build large ceremonial sites and trading centers that served the tens of thousands of people. They were all hunters, fishers, and even merchants! The Mississippians were also great traders just like the Incas and the Aztecs! The traded stone that was common in their area, and the other natives would use this stone to make different weapons. The other natives traded back things like copper, food, and even clothing. The Mississippians, Incas, and the Aztecs all raised maize and corn too! I found all of these things interesting. Ranging from how the Mississippians made large mounds, to how they all have similarities! (119)
ReplyDeleteThe Mississippian was an interesting group of people. They had 5 laws to live by given to them by their sun god. Although this is not the way to be saved, the Mississippians believed fallowing these laws would honor their god. The leader who spoke to the sun god lived at the top of the mounds. This is similar to the religious leaders of the Aztec and the Incas. The Mississippians also relied heavily on trade and farming as did the Aztecs and the Incas. On other similarities was the structure that all three tribes built by hand. I think the most interesting fact that I learn was that the tribes built the mounds with their bare hands, and the mounds were over 3 stories high.(126)
ReplyDeleteThe Mississippians were a very interesting tribe. The one thing that I think was the most interesting to me was that they were the only tribe that lived in actual houses. They can be called Mound Builders because they make really big mounds that some live in. Some mounds were used as a burial grounds. They traded stone, copper, and food just like the other tribes just more spread out. They farm maize, corn, and beans to eat like the other tribes. They were better traders than the Aztec and the Inca. A lot of things in common with all of the tribes and some different.
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The Cahokia’s and Mississippians we very interesting people. They had a lot of similarities to the Aztecs, the Inca, and the Inuit. But one thing that stuck out to me was that all the other tribes were looking to kill people, this tribe didn’t want to hurt anyone unless they had to. They also had their own laws and back then most tribes didn’t have laws. They were one of the biggest trading ports in their time, they traded from the Mississippi river all the way to the Gulf of Mexico which is 900 miles. I think they were one of the most advanced tribe in their time period. (111)
ReplyDeleteThe Mississippians were a very unique culture, but a vanished one. They lived along the Mississippi River and built huge cites to serve all of the people that lived with them. Trading was their mane strength; they would trade from the Great Lakes to the Gulf of Mexico. They would trade a stone that was common to them but other tribes wanted it to make their weapons. In return they would get the food from the other tribe that they couldn’t get at their location. They would also get outfits from the other tribes along with copper and instruments. They also cropped; they would grow corn beans and other crops. Because of the moister from the river agriculture was not very hard. The leaders of the different villages would live the high life with many servant, maids, and riches. They got their nicknames from the huge platforms that they would build out of mud and dirt. Some were one thousand feet in length and seven hundred feet in width. For example that one building or mound would cover two entire football fields in width and three football fields in length entirely. The buildings or mounds would not be very tall but ranged anywhere from three to seventy feet tall. Some scholars are saying that it would take the people around two hundred years to build only one mound. So every mound that they would build took them on average two hundred years to complete. It would take a strong ruling force to make sur3e that people were working on it for two hundred years. Scholars say that the mounds would be used for burials and religious sanctuary. What impresses me the most about this culture; is that the people would work for two hundred years for just one mound.
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