Debunks myth of Native American lost civilization

A UC Berkeley archaeologist has dug up ancient human feces, among other demographic clues, to challenge the narrative around the legendary demise of Cahokia, North America's most iconic pre-Columbian metropolis. In its heyday in the 1100s, Cahokia - located in what is now southern Illinois - was the center for Mississippian culture and home to tens of thousands of Native Americans who farmed, fished, traded and built giant ritual mounds. By the 1400s, Cahokia had been abandoned due to floods, droughts, resource scarcity and other drivers of depopulation. But contrary to romanticized notions of Cahokia's lost civilization, the exodus was short-lived, according to a new UC Berkeley study. UC Berkeley archaeologist A.J. White digs up sediment in search of ancient fecal stanols. (Photo courtesy of A.J. White) The study takes on the "myth of the vanishing Indian" that favors decline and disappearance over Native American resilience and persistence, said lead author A.J. White, a UC Berkeley doctoral student in anthropology. "One would think the Cahokia region was a ghost town at the time of European contact, based on the archeological record," White said.