Read these sentences from the text:

"Whoever they became, and however Cahokia fell, another important archaeological mystery yet remains. Possible descendants include the peoples of great American Indian nations and tribal groups met by Lewis and Clark in 1804 or painted by George Catlin in the 1830s. And yet among them, including the Quapaw, Omaha, Pawnee, and others, there are no stories that speak of the city of Cahokia. Why might the descendants of Cahokia have chosen to forget Cahokia?

The answers might remain in the ruins of Cahokia, the central portion of which is preserved within Illinois' Cahokia Mounds State Historic Site."

What might be the author's purpose for asking the question, "Why might the descendants of Cahokia have chosen to forget Cahokia?"

The author's question about why Cahokia's descendants might have forgotten the city invites readers to consider the various cultural, environmental, and societal reasons behind the decline and disappearance of this advanced pre-Columbian civilization, suggestive of complexities in historical memory preservation.

Explanation:

Posed by the author likely serves to engage the reader in speculation about cultural and historical practices and to introduce the complexity of the situation surrounding the disappearance of the Cahokia civilization. During its peak around 1100 CE, Cahokia was a significant urban center with social hierarchies, elaborate trade networks, and religious practices, including mound building that was similar in scale to the pyramids in Mexico.

Overhunting, deforestation, and resource depletion might have contributed to Cahokia's decline, but the reasons for its ultimate abandonment and the absence of oral traditions among its possible descendants remain uncertain. By asking this question, the author encourages inquiry into the possible cultural, environmental, and societal factors that may have influenced the collective memory or the lack thereof regarding Cahokia's existence.

This approach also illustrates how archaeological sites like Cahokia Mounds State Historic Site remain as vital sources of information that can potentially offer insights into these unresolved mysteries.