A photo from open sources
The city of Cahocia, located north of Mexico, is considered one of the largest ancient settlements of North America. On the at its peak, the population reached 20,000 human. Until now, scientists did not understand the mysterious escape Kahokiya residents of their city. Perhaps the reason was a strong the Mississippi River flood that occurred more than 800 years ago. New research found in lower Illinois where back in 1200 AD the most numerous ancient city, numerous remains of people killed as a result floods. Most likely, this flood destroyed not only more 15,000 people, but also crops, and also at home. Proof that it’s a flood to blame for a disaster of this size, is found mud layer 19 centimeters thick, dating back to 1200, plus or minus 80 years, says Samuel Munoz, lead author Studies and geographer from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Samuel Munoz is also confident that, despite the terrible consequences destructive flood, before 1350 AD not all locals refused to live in the city. However catastrophic the flood greatly undermined the sense of security of citizens living in Kahokii. “I think the result of the flood and the further decision on leaving the city occurred in the middle of one of the key turning points moments of the history of Kahokiya “, says Munoz. In those distant times Kahokiya city was located on an area of 16 square kilometers. Like modern New York, Kahokiya was an artistic and cultural center for residents of the entire North America. The citizens of Kahokiya were able to turn almost any raw material in exquisite goods. The city was surrounded by huge agricultural fields where farmers grew domestic animals and vegetable crops such as corn, zucchini, sunflower, barley. On the more than 200 earthen mounds have grown in the place of the city, many of which still visible well today. Studying for several years the local landscape, Munoz wanted to determine what The inhabitants of Kahokiya were engaged, how much they cultivated land, forests and how they ran agriculture. Location of kahokiya which adjacent to the confluence of large rivers, made it very a popular city for the whole 2000 years. Munoz is sure that in those times on the shores of the Mississippi this place was the most acceptable for life, if you do not take into account the effects of severe flooding. Starting out since about 450 A.D. agriculture began to flourish in Kahokiya, which was accompanied by reinforced deforestation. Growing corn flourished between 900 and 1200 AD, which coincided with the height of Kahokiya culture and then completely ceased approximately in 1350 g. e. However, with the advent of Europeans in 1800 year agriculture and deforestation received a new round development. And although many researchers offer completely different versions and reasons for the desolation of Kahokiya (climate change, political battles, epidemics), in fact, still for sure it is not known where the inhabitants of the ancient city went. But their cultural heritage for several centuries continues to live on southeast of the Mississippi Basin.
