Interesting Cahokia Mounds Facts Revealed On The State Historic Site

Located across the Mississippi River from modern St. Louis, Missouri, the Cahokia Mounds is an impressive architectural and historic site having the remains of the most sophisticated prehistoric native civilization north of Mexico.It was established in 1979 and is located in southwestern Illinois between East St. Louis and Collinsville. The historic park has about 80 mounds covering an area of 3.44 sq mi (8.9 sq km).The apex city covers an area of 6 sq mi (15.5 sq km) and has 120 artificial mounds available in various shapes, sizes, and functions.Cahokia was regarded as the largest and most influential city in Mississippi because its culture and societies became advanced in a very short span of time. It is a classic example of a complex society having many satellite mound centers and outlying hamlets and villages.The archaeological site is considered a National Historic Landmark, having a significant contribution to human values, and is designated for state protection. Looking at the Cahokia archaeology importance and significance, the site was included in one of the 24 UNESCO World Heritage Sites in the United States.Location Of Cahokia MoundsCahokia Mounds, being one of the most significant archaeological sites, is located on the floodplain of the Mississippi River, opposite St. Louis, Missouri, near Cahokia and Collinsville, southwestern Illinois, in the United States.The city of Cahokia is one of the most advanced urban centers of prehistoric America north of Mexico and is the primary center of the Mississippian culture.The city was named Cahokia because of the group of Illinois people living there.The Mississippians were sophisticated people, skilled in agriculture, pottery, and stone toolmaking. They also had a complex social hierarchy, with a ruling class of religious and political leaders.Monks Mound is the largest pre-Columbian earthwork in the Americas North. The city of Cahokia was a ceremonial and political center for the Mississippian people, and Monks Mound was the site of their most important rituals and ceremonies.Monks mound is open to the public, and visitors can climb to the top for a panoramic view of the Mississippi River Valley. A museum near Monks Mound also houses exhibits on the Mississippian people and their culture.History Of Cahokia MoundsCahokia is believed to be settled around 600 CE. The Mississippian culture, which arrived during the 9th century CE, resulted in the mound construction.The complex earthen mounds, burials along elaborate communities were a sign of the existence of a sophisticated society. Several million cubic feet of earth were required to construct the highly planned, large, flat mounds.The mound was a home place for thousands of people and was connected by pathways and courtyards, indicating that the site served as a religious city. Daniel Richter, a great historian, revealed that the city’s apex arrived during the Medieval Warming Period.The period brought an agricultural revolution in North America wherein maize, beans and gourds were developed and bred according to the temperature and other climatic conditions.The rise of Cahokia took place during the 11th and 12th centuries, wherein it became the most important culture of the Mississippian culture. This resulted in well-established settlements running across significant waterways.The city traded with the Great Lakes to the north and the Gulf Coast to the south for items such as Mill Creek chert and whelk shells.The manufacturer and distribution of Mill Creek chert, a highly demanded handtool, was considered an important economic activity responsible for allowing the city to emerge.Mississippian cultural pottery and stone tools in Cahokian style were found near Red Wing, Minnesota, at the Silvernale site. Cahokia became the greatest Mesoamerican city at its peak point, giving homage to about 1000 people.The archaeological excavations of the 21st century resulted in the development of new residential areas and, ultimately, an increase in the population. However, the popularity and population of the city began to decline during the 13th and 14th centuries.Scholars have predicted various factors for this decline, some of which are overhunting, deforestation, pollution, and climatic changes such as flooding and drought, political and economic factors.Invasion and warfare by the people outside the city are also considered one of the reasons involved.The spread of diseases among the city’s enormous population is also one of the possible reasons for the decline.These factors, combined with the inadequate supply of food, improper waste disposal facilities, snowfall, and floods, led to the city’s decline.What are Cahokia Mounds famous for?Initially, the site contained 120 earthen mounds spread across an area of 6 sq mi (15.5 sq km), out of which only 80 remain today. The site was the hard work of thousands of workers over decades.The Monks Mound is one of the city’s largest and most attractive sites, having four terraces, each ten stories tall. The site was named after the Euroamericans who settled in the area for a short period of time.The massive construction period of Cahokia was also a notable feature wherein a highly developed urban site was established. The site is built with a symbolic quadripartite worldview and is towards four cardinal directions.The Grand Plaza located to the south of the Monks Mounds displayed sophisticated engineering and was used for large ceremonies, gatherings, and playing ritual games like chunkey.The large ridgetop mortuary mound, the Rattlesnake mound, is believed to have a symbolic connection with the lunar maize goddess of the underworld.The excavation of Mound 72 witnessed the remains of a man in his 40s who was probably an important Cahokian ruler. The man was buried inside a falcon-shaped marine-shell disc with a bird’s head, tail, and wings. The burial was assumed to have a powerful significance. Finely worked arrowheads of different styles and materials were also found near the man’s grave.A copper workshop was also established near Mound 34, having the remains of three tree stumps, religious items like long-nose god maskettes, and ceremonial earrings with symbolical shapes.Many stylish Mississippian copper plates such as the Wulfing cache from southeastern Missouri, Etowah plates from Georgia, Spiro plates from Oklahoma are believed to be made in Cahokia in the 13th century.The Cahokia Woodhenge is yet another exciting feature of the great historical site. It is a series of large timber circles located to the west of Monks Mound. Village houses feature the majority of the sites.Large unusual-shaped post holes were also discovered. Additional construction works took place in the ’60s-’80s based on verified posthole locations, and the existence of five separate timber circles has been confirmed.Kincaid Mounds State Historic Site, regarded as one of the most significant Mississippian sites, is located in Massac and Polk counties in southern Illinois.It has about 19 mounds in the complex and is considered the fifth-largest Mississippian site based on the number of monuments. The site is also designated as a National Historic Landmark.Another attractive feature is the Cahokia museum and interpretive center, designed by AAIC Inc. The museum has about a million visitors every year.The building was opened in 1989 and has received various awards, like the Thomas H. Madigan Award, the St. Louis Construction News & Reviews Readers Choice Award, the Merit Award from the Metal Construction Association, and the Outstanding Achievement Award from the Brick Manufacturer Association.The Cahokia Mounds were selected as one of the 200 great places in Illinois by the American Institute of Architects Illinois component. It was also designated as Illinois 25 Must-See Places by USA Today Travel Magazine.Who occupied the Cahokia Mounds?Initially, in 1922, the Cahokia Mounds were protected by the state of Illinois. After its designation as a state historic site, additional and powerful protection of the site was required. However, the federal highway building program gave significant threats to the site in the ’50s.On July 19, 1964, the site was designated as a National Historic Landmark and was listed on the National Register of Historic Places.Considering its high economic and cultural value, the site was designated as a World Heritage Site by UNESCO.It was the only site in Illinois among the 24 World Heritage Sites in the United States in 2009.The site featuring the largest mounds is open to the public, managed by the Illinois Historic Preservation Division, and supported by the Cahokia Mounds Museum Society.Cahokia Mounds, having a significant historical and archaeological significance, is authentic in terms of their forms and designs, materials and substance, and location and setting.The governing authorities responsible for preserving the site should make sure that its value and integrity always remain fresh.Did You Know…The ancient city of Cahokia was located in what is now southern Illinois near the confluence of the Mississippi and Illinois rivers. It was home to as many as 20,000 people. This made it one of the largest cities in North America at that time.The Cahokia site was built around a series of artificial mounds. The central Cahokia Mounds site is a large rectangular platform mound.The origins of the ancient city of Cahokia remain a mystery, but it is thought that people from Mexico or Central America may have founded the city.Cahokia tribe lived in the area from about the 9th century until the 16th century when the encroachment of European settlers dispersed them.The mounds were built during the Mississippian culture period. At its peak, the Cahokia Mounds area had some 10-20,000 inhabitants making it one of the largest settlements in North America north of Mexico.Cahokia tribe were mound builders, and the mounds were used for various purposes, including burial sites, ceremonial occasions, and as platforms for public buildings.Mississippi River valley was an important center of trade and commerce, and the Mounds area was at the crossroads of several major trade routes.A wooden palisade wall enclosed the entire city, and there were also defensive earthworks and a ditch.It has been described as an urban city center, and the city covered a complex social hierarchy.Cahokia mounds area is an archaeological site and a UNESCO World Heritage Site located in Collinsville, Illinois. The site is the largest Mississippian culture archaeological site north of Mexico. Cahokia Mounds comprises more than 120 prehistoric earthworks mounds initially built by indigenous people.