Review by Choice Review
This is an excellent book that examines a topic with deep roots in American archaeology: the role of agriculture in the rapid growth, florescence, and decline of Cahokia Mounds, the largest prehistoric population center north of Mexico. As Fritz (emer., Washington Univ.) points out, numerous debates surround this topic. For years, the archaeological story maintained that Cahokia's ruling class governed via a wealth distribution system that relied mainly on corn grown by the lowest classes of society. Fritz sees this as a vastly oversimplified scenario that misrepresents the status of farmers, who were primarily women and girls of various socioeconomic levels. Further, the narrow focus on corn as the primary crop overlooks the abundant evidence that numerous other plants, including knotweed, chenopodium, and maygrass, were major contributors to the Cahokia diet. Fritz puts that diet in excellent perspective by examining the archaeobotanical record for the several thousand years prior to the rise of Cahokia. Twenty-two color plates add substantially to the text, and each chapter concludes with recipes for preparing the plants discussed. What fun! Summing Up: Highly recommended. All readers. --Michael J. O'Brien, Texas A&M University--San Antonio
Copyright American Library Association, used with permission.
Review by Choice Review
