Cahokia
For 500 years, Cahokia was the major center of a culture that, at its peak,
stretched from Red Wing, Minnesota to Key Marco, Florida and across the
southeast. Cahokia is the largest prehistoric site in North America, north
of Central Mexico. The site is located across the Mississippi River, east
of St. Louis, Missouri on a now extinct river channel. The city of Cahokia
is the focal point of what is known as the American Bottoms, the broad
alluvial valley of the Mississippi River just south of the confluence of
the Missouri, Illinois and Mississippi Rivers. This area is considered
to be one of the most fertile agricultural zones in North America. The
rivers that joined within this area not only furnished the transportation
needs (trade) of the city but through seasonal flooding it constrantly
replenished the fertility of the soil.
The cultural tradition represented at Cahokia is called Mississippian by
archaeologists. Characteristics of a Mississippian site include shell-tempered
pottery, triangular projectile points, rectangular-shaped trench houses,
pyramid mounds, diagnostic settlement patterns and site plans, and
corn-bean-squash agriculture. Another predominant characteristic of Cahokia is
the matrix of interaction called the "Cahokia Interaction Sphere." The
influence exerted by Cahokia and the interrelationship of sites is
far-reaching. Within the Cahokia Interaction Sphere, Cahokia's influence can be
demonstrated at Aztalan in south-central Wisconsin, Red Wing in west-central
Minnesota, the Spoon River Focus of the Central Illinois River Valley southward
throughout the southern Mississippi River Valley.
The city of Cahokia was inhabited from 1300 to 600
BP. At its peak from 900 to 800 BP, the city covered nearly six square miles
and had a population of up to 20,000. Houses were arranged in rows and around
open plazas. The main agricultural fields lay outside the city. Cahokia was a
planned city with elaborate public buildings and perhaps elite residences at
its core. The construction of these features required an organized cooperative
labor force as well as organized leadership. Astronomical, mathematical and
engineering knowledge also appear to be necessary skills in the planning and
construction of the site.
The fate of Cahokia is unknown. Depletion of resources probably
contributed to the city's decline. A climate change after 800 BP may have
affected crop production and the plant and animal resources needed to sustain a
large population. A gradual decline in population began sometime after 800 BP,
and by 600 BP the site had been abandoned.
The people of Cahokia had "widespread commerce;
stratified social, political, and religious organization; specialized and
refined crafts; and monumental architecture." (Cahokia Mounds State Historic
Site) This architecture consisted mainly of mounds, many of which still exist.
There were about 120 mounds at Cahokia. The most famous mound is Monk's Mound,
the largest mound in North America. It has a rectangular base of about 15 acres
and a flat top that was once the foundation for a chief's house or a religious
structure. This mound is about 100 feet tall. The orientation of Monks Mound
(major axis running 5 degrees east of north) is repeated not only in the
surrounding mounds, houses and eastern stockade, but in surrounding
archaeological sites.
Woodhenge, a famous calendrical structure located here, is a circle
created by wood posts that served as a calendar, because the poles lined up
with the rising sun at specific dates of the year. There may have been five
woodhenges at Cahokia. They are located west of Monks Mound and range in
diameter from 240 feet to 480 feet. Circle #2 was precisely laid out, with
posts at the cardinal points and a total of 48 points even spaced around the
circumference.
Another impressive feature of Cahokia is the stockade. It was a 2 mile
long wall that surrounded that central portion of Cahokia. It may have acted as
a social barrier however, "three things lead most archaeologists to believe
that it was primarily a defensive structure: the great height of the wall; the
presence of evenly spaced bastions, projections from which archers could shoot
arrows; and evidence that portions of the wall were hurriedly built, cutting
through residential areas, as if danger was imminent." (Cahokia Mounds State
Historic Site)
Links
Visit Cahokia
Mounds State Historic Site
Resources
http://www.cahokiamounds.com - Cahokia Mounds State Historic Site
http://www.smcm.edu/academics/aldiv/art/webcourses/arth100/Anchoring/cityhome.html-Anchoring
the City
http://www.bellevalley.stclair.k12.il.us/bvfair/cmhome.htm