'Feeding Cahokia: Early Agriculture in the North American Heartland'

Professor Emerita of Anthropology Gayle J. Fritz will discuss her new work, "Feeding Cahokia: Early Agriculture in the North American Heartland.

About the book: “Feeding Cahokia: Early Agriculture in the North American Heartland" presents evidence to demonstrate that the emphasis on corn has created a distorted picture of Cahokia’s agricultural practices. Farming at Cahokia was biologically diverse and, as such, less prone to risk than was maize-dominated agriculture. Gayle J. Fritz shows that the division between the so-called elites and commoners simplifies and misrepresents the statuses of farmers—a workforce consisting of adult women and their daughters who belonged to kin groups crosscutting all levels of the Cahokian social order. Many farmers had considerable influence and decision-making authority, and they were valued for their economic contributions, their skills, and their expertise in all matters relating to soils and crops. Fritz examines the possible roles played by farmers in the processes of producing and preparing food and in maintaining cosmological balance."

For more information: https://happenings.wustl.edu/event/faculty_book_talk_gayle_j_fritz#.Xc1vzlVKiUl