Ancient Faith and the Fall of Cahokia

Most ancient peoples, from Asia to the Americas, would not have known how to answer the question, “What do you believe in?” Religion was about life itself, positioning oneself in a dynamic world of spiritual powers. Through years of fieldwork at the ancient pre-Columbian city of Cahokia (in present-day Illinois), anthropologist Tim Pauketat has developed a perspective that blends social theory with vivid description of everyday agrarian life in this early civilization, including how the institutionalization of religion was a marker of its decline.

This program is presented in partnership with the Illinois Program for Research in the Humanities and the Poetry Foundation.

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