Gods of thunder : how climate change, travel, and spirituality reshaped precolonial America

Author / Creator

Pauketat, Timothy R., author

Available as

Online

Physical

Summary

"The earth's climate warmed from the 9th through the 13th centuries CE. Named the Medieval Warm Period, it was a time of great historical change in precolonial North America, as evidenced through a...

"The earth's climate warmed from the 9th through the 13th centuries CE. Named the Medieval Warm Period, it was a time of great historical change in precolonial North America, as evidenced through archaeology. While scholars have previously suggested the existence of long-distance ties between the civilizations of Mesoamerica, the American Southwest, and the Mississippi valley, no one until now has argued that climate change and religion-not trade-were the reasons for these far-flung connections. Pauketat argues that a common supernatural being-a Wind-that-brings-rain or "Thunderer" deity-emerged because of climatic factors to drive the development of a series of interrelated religious movements across the continent. These movements were based around a common circular shrine or pyramid in or on which people worshipped the powers of the wind and rain-the essential life-giving forces of global climate"--

Show More