Hikermor - I did see an article some time in the last couple of years giving a theory that at one time in ancient America the population of Native Americans was substantially higher than previously thought. I do not know whether this idea is widely accepted, and I also don't know if it was predominantly in the East, or some other part of the country. But the article seemed to imply a much larger Indian population, and then for some reason many people died. I wish I'd had the time to read it in more detail.

Montanero points out an interesting fact - that we do know there were Indian populations much earlier in time who were wiped out, and some of their societies were quite sophisticated. so it does seem to be true that we don't know everything about the centuries before europeans arrived on the continent.

as for Pacal the Great - he's not on my radar (or rocketship). don't know the guy. i'll look him up some time.

Pete2