University of Chicago Lab Schools
7th Grade Web Quest
Who Really "Discovered" America?
Introduction:
Hundreds of years before Columbus arrived in the "new world" native peoples were building mounds, trading, creating art, and running one of the largest cities in the world. The people who lived near present day St. Louis, Missouri left no written records of their lives, but archaeologists have gradually revealed the complexity of the culture that thrived on the banks of the Mississippi River. The city of Cahokia--and it was truly a city of thousands--was more populous than London. How this culture emerged and then after 1400 years disappeared is only now being understood. Many questions are still unanswered.