Largest Native American Building

[Phidippides]

I was trying to think of this.  Is anyone familiar with any American Indian architectural structure that is large (e.g. more than two stories tall)?  I realize such exist in the American southwest (I believe from Anasazi, Hope tribes), but apart from these I can't think of any.

[scout1067]

Aren't some of the Mayan pyramids in Mexico pretty large or are we just talking about American Inidians?  If that is the cas there are some pretty huge burial mounds in b Ohio, Oklahoma, Missouri, and Illinois that I can think of.  Serpent mound in Ohio

[scout1067]

This lists most of the Indian mounds in the U.S.  INDIAN MOUNDS OF THE UNITED STATES

[Phidippides]

I was trying to find structures within the U.S. - the issue of why the Indian cultures in Central America produced such huge structures whereas the tribes to the north did not is a question in its own right.  Anyway, I suppose outside the southwest the large earthen mounds might be the only large Native American structures.

[scout1067]

The semi-nomadic lifestyle of many of the Indian tribes of America meant that most were never in one spot long enough to build large structures.  I would guess it also has something to do with the animist and nature worshipping religions of most American indians.  Most of the massive structures of antiquity I can think of besides public works (aquaducts and roads) were religious structures; Pyramids, Temples, statuary and the like.  Perhaps the Indians did not feel the need for monolithic structure as part of their religious practices.

[arbarnhart]

Re-opening an old thread, I know, but an interesting tidbit I just picked up seems to belong here and I will throw in a couple of other thoughts.

Until a large apartment complex was built in NYC in the 1880s, the largest structure ever built in what is now the US was in Chaco Canyon, NM. It was a 5 story (in places) free standing "fort/castle" built of sandstone around 1000 AD and abandoned before 1200 AD. There are several different theories as to why it was abandoned, but I think the weather theory makes the most sense. It had a couple of centuries of unusually wet weather and what was before and is again desert could be farmed. From about 1175-1200, there was a drought.

I think there were a couple of things that limited the size of their structures. One was their history. Many tribes were nomadic, following herds or searching for more abundant forage. The other was lack of need. Why do you make large buildings? If you don't have much room to expand. If you want fortifications. They had plenty of room and without canons, siege engines or cavalry the justification for the effort involved in walling a fortress is not that strong.

[Phidippides]

I thought we had a thread somewhere on Chaco Canyon but can't find it at the moment.  I didn't realize it was the largest building in the U.S. for so long, and I bet there were some large warehouse-like structures built by the mid-1850s or so, so Chaco Canyon must have been particularly large. 

I think you're right about the nomadic lifestyle affecting building size.  Another (simple) reason is simply purpose.  The great Egyptian pyramids, built c. 2500 B.C., were only possible because the Egyptian belief system spurred them to create them.  Same goes for the ziggurats/temples in Sumer.  Take away the particular religious belief system and you would not have those structures. 

[arbarnhart]

Well, I sometimes take it for granted that the researchers on History Channel shows make accurate statements; they often have wild theories but identify them as such. In fact on that show, they had a few really wild ones for possible reasons for the Anasizi disappearance. But the weather theory seemed to make the most sense to me. Anyway, an archeologist on the show stated that about the size.

You are also right about the religious aspect. Interestingly enough, some of the theories about why Chaco was built and why it was later abandoned revolved around religion. There may have been some influence from tribes up from what is now Mexico also; they found some teeth that were chipped the way the tribes from that area chipped their teeth in some ritual.

[Phidippides]

For what it's worth, I had heard of the drought (theory?) as the reason for the Anasazi disappearance.  It's actually quite interesting that part of America was inhabited by a civilization c. 1200 that was able to build somewhat complex architectural complexes.

[arbarnhart]

Doubly interesting is that they discovered it was built slowly; it took about 150 years to complete but seemed to be following a master plan across generations. There were also roads to it from outlying settlements and more crudely built dwellings outside the walls but nearby. They construed this to infer a class structure and that it was a small city that was the "capital" of their region. Evidence of any sort of government is thin at best though. They interviewed some Native Americans that seemed a little frustrated with the limited input they were asked to give in the past. One in particular said a lot of it is explained in their oral traditions and then that was the end of his sound bite. I would like to know what he would have said if they asked him to expound on that.

[Bushwick]

Tribes of the north west had very large wooden homes