Grand Feast at Cahokia Mounds

This post is for my deer hunter friends and/or anyone planning a Thanksgiving feast. My new book, The Great Pyramids of St. Louis: An Ancient Metropolis ($16 Amazon Books) reveals the discovery of an enormous amount of 900 year old trash from just one feast at Cahokia. The trash filled up a pit measuring 195 feet long, 62 feet wide, and at its center 10 feet deep. In addition to ritualistic objects, non-local arrowheads, jewelry, tools, and painted pots, items related to cooking and consuming massive amounts of food were uncovered. The evidence showed that about 3,900 deer were hunted, butchered, and prepared for the feast, 7,900 pots were used for cooking and serving, and enough smoking tobacco was used to leave more than 1,000,000 seeds! Every new discovery indicates the civilization that exploded onto the scene at present day St. Louis nearly 1,000 years ago was grander than ever imagined.