Comparing Maya Cities And Cahokia Cities

Comparison of the Maya Cities, Cahokia City and the cities in Upper Xingu
The Maya Cities
Cities of the Maya comprised of sites such as Coba, Caracol, Tikal, Cival, Motul de San Jose’ among others. In the ancient times, the populations in these cities were dispersed compared to other cities. These cities were ruled by kings who stayed in the palaces at the city centers. The palaces were the administrative sites for the cities. Public monuments were constructed to commemorate the ruling kings which were an attraction to more city dwellers. Another attraction to more residents was the suitable conditions for farming and access to trade routes.
The layout of the Maya cities was quite a unique one. They had no formal plan and expansion was done

in uncontrolled manner. Cities grew from the centre outwards. Schools and market places had reserved places at the centre. The central portion was the administration of the city which was surrounded by residential quotas. The affluent in the society stayed near the central administration and the poorer stayed far away from the centre. Causeways were used to link the centre to other parts of the city. The Maya people embraced farming and hunting. They planted maize and beans among other crops. They produced more food than they could use and stored the surplus in stores. They even had a god for the maize, Young Maize God.
The Cahokia City (Mississippian)
The Cahokia was an urban settlement city and one of the most influential.

The city was well laid out to show their skill in planning. The town centre had public plazas and buildings that were well structured with hand-built earthen mounds. Sacred meetings and ceremonies took place in the plazas. Residents constructed their houses in rows surrounding the city. The people of Cahokia engaged in farming, trade and hunting. The people of Cahokia engaged in long-distance trade involving items like pipestone, copper, marine shell among others. The city was cosmopolitan in nature due to influx of people who came to trade.
With time, the population grew so much as a result of immigration and high birth rates. The Cahokians practiced human sacrifices attributed to the mound with mass burials. Residents of Cahokia engaged in farming to feed the city people i.e. the administrative leaders, religious leaders, traders and astronomers. The farmers were from the low economic class and were looked down upon by their leaders from the high society. Power was inherited in families disadvantaging members from the low social

class.
The cities of Upper Xingu
Cities of Upper Xingu were also urban in nature.

They were characterized by densely populated permanent communities (villages) governed by a political leader, the chief at the central location. Roads and bridges linked the communities. The cities were well planned to encourage urban development and offer sustainable growth. The villages also formed social groups with the same political and social territories.
The chief was greatly respected and his person was sought whenever someone wanted to leave the village. The chief presided over religious functions ad ceremonies in the community. The post of the chief was hereditary. In these cities, monogamy was treasured and heads of monogamous families formed a union from which they controlled the rest in the farming exercise.
Comparison of change in Pacific Northwest and Eastern North America
Pacific Northwest
The people in the Pacific Northwest were basically hunter and gatherers. Fishing was also an integral part of their lives. As life changed, especially at the late Holocene period, some of the people adopted a sedentary lifestyle but still maintained the hunting and gathering nature. The people in the Pacific Northwest believed in a spiritual world, a supernatural entity and had symbols and totems to represent figures in these unseen world. They always had a belief that they were surrounded by supernatural beings that had the ability to control the natural world. Music played a role in spirituality, to honor the ancestors and

the earth. Salmon, a type of fish had an important part is sustaining religion and culture of the Northwest people.
Climatic changes in Pacific Northwest were the biggest contributor to changes in behavior and practices of people there. Drought and the slowly drying environment contributed to religious downfall illustrated by increased fornication. Political instability was also a consequence of the harsh climatic conditions. Volcanic eruptions were also experienced that really frustrated the populations in Pacific Northwest.
The Eastern North America
During the early use of domesticates in Eastern North America several crops and animals were domesticated. The people switched from using wild fruits and slowly started practicing agriculture. Pigs, sheep and cattle were among the first animals to be domesticated.
In the Eastern North America during the Hopewell period, villages lay alongside rivers and streams. People were farmers with maize, beans and squash being crops cultivated. The people still relied on fishing, hunting and gathering of fruits and nuts from the wilderness. Pottery and stonework was also practiced. This was done artistically by use of copper, silver and pipestone to make very beautiful items. Trade was another economic activity during this period with water being used for transportation.
Generally, the Mississippian people were hunters and gatherers and slowly transitioned to farming. They relied on seasonal crops such as nuts, berries and other seed-bearing plants. Their society became more complex and social segregations started where the religious and elite were seen as being more superior to the rest of the people.