Pre Colonial Cities

Cahokia was home to

Mississippians (mostly temporary residents)

Mumford’s urbanization prerequisites

agricultural advancement (surplus for trade and specialization), technology, and craft specialization (creates economy)

Later pre colonial cities were…

more sophisticated from trial and error

Cahokia mounds functions

refuge sites during floods and cosmology (closer to the sky is sacred)

Dominant physical planning in Teotihuacan

spectacle of power; rejected public and unplanned residential spaces for top-down planning

Tinochtitlan motivation in replicating Teotihuacan

similar population growth and desire to separate from other epiclassic cities

Teotihuacan innovations

central avenue, apartment buildings, orthogonal layout, massive scale

Teotihuacan rejections

ball courts, unplanned residential, royal palace, grand plaza