If you were going to excavate Cahokia, which research questions would you want to answer??

Question

What questions would you go into the field with, that have not already been studied, asked and answered?

Answer 1

I'd want to know what happened. Cahokia had such an advanced civilization, such wide market ties and affiliations, and seemed to be so successful. Then it suddenly went into a decline and the mound city was deserted. What happened? Was it disease? Warring tribes - and if so, which ones, as they seemed to have commercial and other pacts with their neighbors which would preclude warfare.

Answer 2

Who were its inhabitants and who are their descendants, what happened to end their civilization, etc.

Answer 3

I don't know if the abandonment of Cahokia has also been linked to climate change, given the timing. If not that may be a good research question.

Answer 4

First of all, what happened to the people themselves?  Who were they and how did they live? In what ways did their society flourish and then deteriorate?

What inspired them to build these mounds and found a culture based on farming and trading rather than on hunting and gathering?  Were they in contact with other tribes? If so, did they trade, befriend or make war upon them?

How were the mounds constructed? What engineering technology did they posess?  Did they have a written language?

What of the artifacts that were found there?  How were they made?  What do these objects tell us about the society? How did they view the world?

Hope this helps.