If each person consumed 8 ounces of corn per day then one acre could feed 2240 people corn for one day.40,000 people would consume 20 ,000 lb per day.

That would require approximately 18 acres of corn per day or about 6570 acres per year (almost 10 square miles of corn ).

If there were 80,000 people living in American Bottom ca 1150 AD and if each consumed 1/2 lb of corn per day they would consume 40,000 lbs of corn per day.

This would require about 36 acres per day to produce 1 days's food.

For one year they would require 13,036 acres or slightly more than 20 square miles of corn acreage alone.

If there were 80,000 people and a deer (butchered) provided 100 lbs of meat (a big deer)and if each person required 1/4 lb of meat per day (approximately 60 grams of protein) then one deer could provide that minimum of 4 ounces to 400 people.

It would take 200 deer per day to feed 80,000 people and it would take73,000 deer annually to provide a minimum of 4 ounces of meat per person per day

If there were 80,000 people in American Bottom and it took two deer to clothe one person (at an absolute minimum) then it would take 160,000 deer to clothe everyone.

With 20,000 living at Cahokia 40,000 deer would be needed for the city alone.

More than likely it would take four or five deer hides to clothe a person or 80,000 to 100,000 hides in all for Cahokia alone.

© Cahokia State Agricultural Extension Office. 1997