Gods of Thunder: How Climate Change, Travel, and Spirituality Reshaped Precolonial America

by Timothy R. Pauketat

A sweeping account of Medieval North America when Indigenous peoples confronted climate change.

Few Americans today are aware of one of the most consequential periods in North American history--the Medieval Warm Period of seven to twelve centuries ago (AD 800-1300 CE)--which resulted in the warmest temperatures in the northern hemisphere since the "Roman Warm Period," a half millennium earlier. Reconstructing these climatic events and the cultural transformations they wrought, Timothy Pauketat guides readers down ancient American paths walked by Indigenous people a millennium ago, some trod by Spanish conquistadors just a few centuries later. The book follows the footsteps of priests, pilgrims, traders, and farmers who took great journeys, made remarkable pilgrimages, and migrated long distances to new lands.

Along the way, readers will discover a new history of a continent that, like today, was being shaped by climate change--or controlled by ancient gods of wind and water. Through such elemental powers, the history of Medieval America was a physical narrative, a long-term natural and cultural experience in which Native people were entwined long before Christopher Columbus arrived or Hern?n Cort?s conquered the Aztecs.

Spanning most of the North American continent, Gods of Thunder focuses on remarkable parallels between pre-contact American civilizations separated by a thousand miles or more. Key archaeological sites are featured in every chapter, leading us down an evidentiary trail toward the book's conclusion that a great religious movement swept Mesoamerica, the Southwest, and the Mississippi valley, sometimes because of worsening living conditions and sometimes by improved agricultural yields thanks to global warming a thousand years ago. The author also includes a guide to visiting the archaeological sites discussed in the book.

Genres: History, Anthropology, Indigenous

346 pages, Kindle Edition

First published February 1, 2023

About the author

Tim Pauketat is an archaeologist and professor of Anthropology and Medieval Studies at the University of Illinois in Urbana-Champaign. He previously taught at the State University of New York in Buffalo and the University of Oklahoma. Professor Pauketat is interested in the study of ancient religion and urbanism, and has been excavating the pre-Columbian colonies and pilgrimage sites of the Cahokian civilization around St. Louis north into Wisconsin. The author or editor of a dozen scholarly books, Tim also writes for nonprofessional audiences, recently including a book entitled Cahokia: Ancient America's Great City on the Mississippi (Penguin, 2010).

Reviews

[Kait · Rating 2 out of 5]

Personally, I found that Pauketat had too much of a “bird’s eye view” of the whole region he was talking about. While he did do a decent job of dismantling the intellectual border that scholars have put between Mexico and North America, and he was able to talk about how religious practices were involved in the people's lives, he struggled with a lot of other parts of his book. More than the goals he set out to prove, he struggled with the writing style and staying on point/topic. Although the title, cover, and description advertise that this would be a good book for anyone interested in history or anthropology to pick up, it was not well written for all audiences. His work also lacked a connection to the people he was writing about. If he had used more ethnographical work in the book, I feel like he could have achieved better insight and knowledge, and it would have been more captivating to the reader; the book feels very much like an armchair archaeologist read. The very fact that he published this book outside the US although he is a US scholar, begs the question as to why he would need to go to an outside country to get it published. Perhaps it has something to do with the lack of work with the living ancestors of the Indigenous people that he wrote about. Also, I would have appreciated more maps.

[Joe · Rating 4 out of 5]

An interesting picture of ancient North America, from southern Mexico and Guatemala, through Central and Western Mexico to the US southwest, Mississippi Valley and eastern woodlands during the medieval climate anomaly. This occurred from about 900 to 1300 CE. and brought severe drought to the Yucatán, central and western Mexico and wetter conditions to the American southwest and adjacent areas. The author ties this to the end of classic Maya Civilization and to the development of Hohokam sites, Chaco Canyon, and Cahokia due to changes in ideology to thunder and water gods, with focus on such deities, Mesoamerican motifs, circular structures, I.e., kivas, circular temples, steam baths, etc. all due to focus on water and thunder/rain gods. Goes in great detail about similarities to origin myths of the Maya to those of the Eastern Woodland groups and those in between. Author shows a great grasp of the archaeology of a vast area, as well as ethnography and mythology. Makes a convincing case for Mesoamerican influences on US groups, but perhaps assumes too much. Maps and further discussions of climate effect needed. Should amplify climate effects such as the fact that not all Mayan areas faced severe drought at the same time yet the abandonment of classic cities was widespread.

[Gregory Glover · Rating 4 out of 5]

I hope to provide an extensive review later. I met Dr. Pauketat, who is retiring this year, at an IFR field school this summer. I am deeply impressed with his work and this book represents the culmination of a lifetime devoted to the study of this history. I think the “travelogue“ aspects of the book are a fun, lighter point of entry. They make me want to start a road trip today. The book is worth reading for anyone interested in the history and religion of Cahokia.

[Orest · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fascinating book - but deducted 2 stars for the lack of maps (which would have helped substantially to understanding the author's message).

[M Pro · Rating 3 out of 5]

Pauketat is a contrarian who cannot pick a conclusion based on the evidence that he provides.