-——What ever it was that caused the chang ——
This is the way things actually get screwed up as the result of poor or miscommunication. I left off the “e”..... I meant to say change. : )
The unintended result was to shift the focus from the North American Indians to something completely different. I read the book you recommended on The Voyages of the Pyramid Builders. Now I guess you are pointing me onward in a more specific direction.
Back in October I visited Cahokia where a very large truncated pyramid is located. The place fell apart during the period noted in this article. Cahokia was contemporary with the Anasazi and the Arizona Hohokam. At the time noted, Cahokia was larger than many European cities especially London
I have been Reading several of the books by Stephen Lekson, especially The History of the Ancient Southwest. He says..... everybody knew everything, distance was not a problem. What he means is that all the various populations knew of the others and were actively involved in trade and the distance covered to trade was not a problem.
Much later, the Spanish wanted to find Eldorado. A western Mexico Indian took them to the pueblos and they were disappointed.He led them on and they killed them in Kansas because they no longer believed him. They had traveled too far. He was surely bound for the long gone Cahokia.
A decent book about this area: