America’s Archaeological Treasure: Cahokia Mounds

Figure 1: Artistic rendition of site of Cahokia and ceramic found at the site (Source: Cahokia Mounds Official Webite)

Situated on the east side of the Mississippi River just outside of Collinsville, Illinois (which is 20 minutes drive from St. Louis, Missouri) sits one of the grandest sites in all of North America and the largest pre-Columbian settlement north of Mexico: Cahokia (Figure 1).  This site has received two prominent designations: 1) United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Origins (UNESCO) World Heritage site and 2) U.S. National Historic Landmark.  Despite these important historical and cultural designations not many people know about Cahokia.  This blog post is dedicated to providing readers with a comprehensive review of the site of Cahokia and what is known and still unknown about the site and the people that once resided there.

Cahokia is a Mississippian Period site that existed between A.D. 700 and 1400.  It received its name not from its original inhabitants (that totaled approximately 10,000 to 20,000 people at the site's height) but from an indigenous group that resided at the site 200 years after its abandonment.  The French encountered the Cahokia people in the 1600s when the French came to the area, and in the mid-1800s local historians associated this indigenous group with the ancient city, which is how the site received its name. 

Interest in the site did not last long after that, in part because of the prevailing attitudes of the time that focused not on elevating indigenous groups but in diminishing them.  As such, the site was largely ignored and served as the location of a gambling hall, subdivision, airfield, and pornographic drive-in.  It was also a favorite sledding spot for many of my friends’ parents and grandparents, who regaled me with childhood tales of such events while I grew up an hour north of the site.  The fate of Cahokia forever changed in the 1960s when expansion of the US interstate system was underway and the government authorized archaeological investigations of all construction areas prior to breaking ground.  As a result thorough archaeological investigations were undertaken and continue today, and much has been learned about the site and its original residents. 

Figure 2: Monk's Mound (Image Source: Cahokia Mounds Official Website)

The site of Cahokia covered six square miles and at once point encompassed 120 mounds, although only 68 exist today.  Three types of mounds existed at this site, and these included the platform mounds, which were used for ceremonial or political purposes, and the conical and ridge mounds, which were burial mounds.  The biggest mound, named Monks Mound (Figure 2) after the group of monks that resided at its base, still exists today, although it is not nearly as grand as it originally was due to natural and man-made erosive factors (see above regarding sledding at Cahokia).  The mound is believed to have stood ten stories tall and was quite possibly the paramount mound at the site, serving as either the key ceremonial or political structure.  Another mound, Mound 72, was a funerary mound that housed a high status male (Figure 3) who was laid out on several hundred shell beads that formed an eagle and interred with several young females (presumed by some to be “virgins”, although there is no osteological methods to confirm that assumption) and four decapitated males.    

 

Figure 3: Museum display of the primary burial in Mound 72 (Image Source: Rita Jean Moran)

The site, however, was also made up of additional structures, including a large plaza, rows of residences, and agricultural lands dedicated to corn cultivation just outside of the city.  There was also a wooden circular structure known as Woodhenge (Figure 4).  This structure was rebuilt and expanded at least five times.  It was made up of cedar posts that in its various incarnations may have been painted with red ochre.  Red ochre is considered a ceremonial agent, leading some scholars to associate Woodhenge as having some sort of ritual purpose.  Other scholars, however, believe that Woodhenge may have served an offensive purpose, protecting the Cahokian residents from attacks and civil unrest.

Figure 4: Woodhenge (Image Source: Cahokia Mounds Official Website)

Despite the great deal of what is known about the site there remain several unanswered questions.  Archaeologists do not precisely understand the purpose of the city, which was built over a short period of time but occupied for several centuries.  It appears that the city had some sort of significance to the local groups of the area based on its large size and potentially to outsiders across North America based on the presence of exotic items that originated in modern day northern Mexico and western Quebec.  But no modern indigenous group has any fables or indigenous knowledge of the site.  Also, it is presumed that the prehistoric Cahokian residents existed in a chiefdom society and were socially stratified, but it is unclear how specifically this sociopolitical organization existed.  Due to the loss of much of the site some of these questions may not be answered, but continued study of the site does lend hope to answering these questions.    

Bibliography

•  Cahokia Mounds Official Website
• Legends of America
• National Geographic
• UNESCO Website