Cahokia Mounds

CAHOKIA MOUNDS

CAHOKIA MOUNDS. This prehistoric settlement on the alluvial plain of the Mississippi River valley about four miles northeast of present-day East Saint Louis is the largest archaeological site north of central Mexico. Excavations at Cahokia began in the mid-twentieth century as salvage operations preceding construction of a highway. Major archaeological investigations were initiated in 1984 by the Illinois Historic Preservation Agency and its chief archaeologist for the site, Thomas Emerson. A focus of development of the Mississippian culture in the Midwest between a.d. 700 and 1350, Cahokia's population, estimated at between 10,000 and 25,000, probably peaked from a.d. 1000 to 1100. The site, covering six square miles and featuring at least 120 mounds (some ceremonial, some burial), was carefully laid out with horizontal compass orientations in mind. The ceremonial Monks Mound, the largest platform mound north of Mexico, towers about 98 feet high, with a base of about 984 feet by 656 feet. Many conical burial mounds have been excavated, showing clear signs of social stratification in the form of elaborate grave goods, sometimes imported from great distances. In one mound, a high-status male was buried on a platform of 20,000 cut shell beads.

While Cahokia was surrounded by an enormous log palisade 13 to 16 feet high and perhaps 2.4 miles in length, its decline does not seem to have resulted from outside

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attack. Nor does any evidence exist to suggest that Cahokia engaged in wars of conquest. A chiefdom (lacking a standing army or police force) rather than a state, Cahokia may have declined for simple environmental reasons. While the maize agriculture introduced into the area around a.d. 750 sparked the rapid growth of the community and supported a relatively large population, it did not provide a balanced diet to the average Cahokian. Soil erosion may have also cut into productivity over time. Further, the enormous palisade required perhaps 20,000 large trees, which were replaced several times during Cahokia's heyday. This huge structure, plus the daily fire-wood needs of the Cahokians, put considerable strain on local woodlands. In addition, satellite communities arose, increasing the general area's population and placing still more demands on the local environment. Gradually, over perhaps fifty to seventy-five years, the population may have simply overwhelmed local resources. The anthropologist Timothy Pauketat of the University of Illinois, however, argues that political and religious failures by Cahokia's leaders were the primary reasons for the population's dispersal. For whatever reason, by 1350 Cahokia was abandoned.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Fowler, Melvin L. The Cahokia Atlas: A Historical Atlas of Cahokia Archaeology. Springfield: Illinois Historic Preservation Agency, 1989.

Mehrer, Mark W. Cahokia's Country side: Household Archaeology, Settlement Patterns, and Social Power. DeKalb: Northern Illinois University Press, 1995.

Young, Biloine Whiting, and Melvin L. Fowler. Cahokia: The Great Native American Metropolis. Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 2000.

Guy Gibbon

Robert M. Owens