Cahokia facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Cahokia Mounds State Historic Site |
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Monks Mound, the largest earthen structure at Cahokia (for scale, an adult is standing on top)
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 Cahokia Mounds State Historic Site
Location in the United States
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| Location | St. Clair County, Illinois, U.S. |
| Nearest city | Collinsville, Illinois |
| Area | 2,200 acres (8.9 km2) |
| Governing body | Illinois Historic Preservation Agency |
| Official name: Cahokia Mounds State Historic Site | |
| Type: | Cultural |
| Criteria: | iii, iv |
| Designated: | 1982 (6th session) |
| Reference #: | 198 |
| State Party: | United States |
| Region: | Europe and North America |
| Official name: Cahokia Mounds | |
| Designated: | October 15, 1966 |
| Reference #: | 66000899 |
| Official name: Cahokia Mounds | |
| Designated: | July 19, 1964 |
The Cahokia Mounds State Historic Site is the location of an ancient Native American city. This city existed long before Europeans arrived in the Americas. It was active from about 1050 to 1350 CE. You can find this historic park in western Illinois, right across the Mississippi River from modern St. Louis, Missouri.
The park today covers about 2,200 acres (3.5 square miles) and has around 80 mounds. However, the ancient city was much bigger! At its busiest time, around 1100 CE, Cahokia spread over about 6 square miles. It featured about 120 man-made earthen mounds. These mounds came in many sizes, shapes, and had different uses. At its peak, Cahokia might have had more people than London did at the same time.
Cahokia was the biggest and most important city of the Mississippian culture. This culture built advanced societies across much of what is now the central and southeastern United States. This happened over 1,000 years before Europeans made contact. Today, Cahokia Mounds is seen as the largest and most complex archaeological site north of the great ancient cities in Mexico.
Cahokia Mounds is a special place. It is a National Historic Landmark and a protected site by the state of Illinois. It is also one of the 24 UNESCO World Heritage Sites in the United States. The site is open to the public. The Illinois Historic Preservation Division manages it. The Cahokia Mounds Museum Society also helps support it.
Contents
Exploring the History of Cahokia
How Cahokia Grew Over Time
People lived in the Cahokia area as early as 1200 BCE. But the city we know as Cahokia started around 600 CE. This was during the Woodland period. The building of mounds began around the 9th century CE. The people who lived here did not leave written records. However, symbols on pottery, shells, and stone tell us about them. Their carefully planned city, huge mounds, and burials show a very complex society.
Building Cahokia's mounds was a huge job. Workers had to dig up and move 55 million cubic feet of earth. They used woven baskets to carry the soil by hand. Much of this work was done in just a few decades. The city had planned ceremonial areas around the mounds. Thousands of homes were connected by pathways. This suggests Cahokia was a central place for religious journeys.
We do not know the city's original name. The mounds were later named after the Cahokia tribe. This tribe lived in the area when French explorers arrived in the 1600s. The Cahokia tribe was not necessarily related to the original builders. It is likely that many different groups lived in Cahokia when it was at its peak.
Cahokia grew during a time called the Medieval Warm Period. This period helped farming grow in North America. Crops like maize (corn), beans, and squash became very important. These crops were first grown in Mesoamerica. Cahokia's growth happened at the same time as the Chaco Canyon society in the Southwest. Both societies built large structures and had complex social systems. Cahokia's decline happened during the Little Ice Age. However, farming continued to be important across North America.
Cahokia's Rise to Power
Cahokia became the most important center for the people known as Mississippians. Their settlements spread across the Midwest, East, and Southeast of the United States. Cahokia was in a key location. It was near where the Mississippi, Missouri, and Illinois Rivers meet.
Cahokia traded with communities far away. They traded with groups near the Great Lakes to the north. They also traded with groups along the Gulf Coast to the south. They traded special items like copper and shells.
A type of stone called Mill Creek chert was very important. It was used to make hoes for farming. Farmers around Cahokia and other Mississippian centers needed these tools. Cahokia controlled how these tools were made and traded. This was a big part of the city's success. Pottery and stone tools from Cahokia have been found far away. This shows how wide their trade network was. People used bartering (trading goods), not money.
At its peak, Cahokia was the largest city north of the great cities in Mexico and Central America. Before 1050, only about 1,000 people lived there. But its population grew very fast after that. Between 1050 and 1100, Cahokia's population jumped to between 10,200 and 15,300 people. Some experts think the city's population reached 40,000 people at its busiest. Many more people lived in nearby farming villages. These villages supplied food to the main city.
If these high estimates are correct, Cahokia was larger than any other city in the United States until the 1780s. That is when Philadelphia grew to more than 40,000 people. Some even say Cahokia's population in the 1200s was as big as or bigger than London's population at that time.
One big challenge for large cities like Cahokia was getting enough food. Another problem was dealing with waste from so many people. Cahokia's waterways became polluted, making the city unhealthy. Some historians believe the city needed to attract new people to keep growing. Otherwise, the high death rate might have caused it to be abandoned sooner.
Why Cahokia Declined
Cahokia's population started to shrink in the 1200s. The city was completely abandoned around 1300. Other Native American tribes did not move back into the area until about 1350. Experts have suggested several reasons for this decline. These include environmental problems like too much hunting, cutting down too many trees (deforestation), and floods.
Another idea is that outside groups invaded. The only evidence of conflict is a wooden fence (stockade) and watchtowers. These surrounded Cahokia's main ceremonial area. There is no other proof of war. So, the fence might have been for rituals or to separate areas, not for defense. Diseases spreading among the large population could also have caused the decline. Many theories suggest that political problems or conflicts led to Cahokia being abandoned.
In 2015, researchers found evidence of major floods at Cahokia. These floods were so severe they could have flooded homes. Studies of soil from Horseshoe Lake show two big floods happened during Cahokia's time. These were around 1100–1260 and 1340–1460.
Key Features of Cahokia
The original site had 120 earthen mounds. These covered an area of 6 square miles. Today, 80 of these mounds still remain. To build them, thousands of workers moved an estimated 55 million cubic feet of earth. They used woven baskets over many decades. Monks Mound, for example, covers 14 acres. It rises 100 feet high. A huge building, 5,000 square feet and 50 feet tall, sat on top of it.
Monks Mound: The Heart of the City
Monks Mound is the largest structure and the main focus of Cahokia. It is a massive flat-topped mound with four levels. It stands 10 stories tall. It is the largest man-made earthen mound north of Mexico. Facing south, it is 100 feet high, 951 feet long, and 836 feet wide. It covers about 13.8 acres. The mound contains about 814,000 cubic yards of earth.
The mound was built taller and wider over several centuries. This happened through as many as 10 different building stages. Monks Mound was named after Trappist monks. They lived there for a short time after Europeans settled in the area. Digging on top of Monks Mound found evidence of a large building. This was likely a temple or the home of the main leader. This building would have been seen from all over the city. It was about 105 feet long and 48 feet wide. It might have been as tall as 50 feet.
In 2007, parts of Monks Mound were dug up to prevent erosion. These areas were then repaired to protect the mound.
The City's Layout
Early in its history, Cahokia had a huge building boom. Along with the first part of Monks Mound, a city plan was created. The city was designed with a special worldview. It was oriented towards the four main directions (north, south, east, west). Monks Mound was near the center. Four large plazas were built around Monks Mound. These were to the east, west, north, and south.
South of Monks Mound is the Grand Plaza. This large area covered about 50 acres. It was over 1,600 feet long and over 900 feet wide. At first, researchers thought this flat area was natural. But soil studies showed it was not. The people of Cahokia had carefully leveled and filled the land. This was a very skilled engineering project. The Grand Plaza was used for big ceremonies and gatherings. It was also used for ritual games, like chunkey. In this game, players rolled a disc-shaped stone. Then they threw spears where they thought the stone would land.
A main north-south path connected the central area to a large burial mound. This mound is now called Rattlesnake Mound (Mound 66). This path, called the Rattlesnake Causeway, was an raised earth path. It was about 18 meters (59 feet) wide and 800 meters (2,625 feet) long. It crossed a low, swampy area. The path was aligned slightly east of north. This direction might have been important to the builders. It could relate to their lunar maize goddess. The path may have been seen as a symbolic "Path of Souls."
The important central part of Cahokia was surrounded by a 2-mile-long fence (palisade). This fence had protective towers. It was built later and cut through some existing neighborhoods. Archaeologists found evidence that the fence was rebuilt several times. Its towers showed it was mainly for defense.
Beyond Monks Mound, there were as many as 120 more mounds. These were at different distances from the city center. So far, 109 mounds have been found. 68 of them are in the park area. The mounds are of three types: platform, conical, and ridge-top. Each type likely had its own meaning and use. The city center was shaped like a diamond, about 1 mile from end to end. The entire city was about 5 miles across from east to west.
Mound 72: A Special Burial Site
During digs at Mound 72, archaeologists made an important discovery. This mound is a ridge-top burial mound south of the main city area. They found the remains of a man in his 40s. He was likely an important ruler of Cahokia. The man was buried on a bed of over 20,000 shell beads. These beads were shaped like a falcon. The bird's head was near the man's head. Its wings and tail were under his arms and legs.
The falcon warrior, or "birdman," was a common symbol in Mississippian culture. This burial clearly had strong symbolic meaning. Near the man's grave, archaeologists also found many well-made arrowheads. These arrowheads came in different styles and materials. They showed that Cahokia traded widely across North America.
Archaeologists found more than 250 other skeletons in Mound 72. Experts believe that almost 62% of these were people who were sacrificed. This is based on how they were buried and other clues.
It is not clear how these burials relate to the main burial. They were probably not all buried at the same time. Wood found in the mound dates back to between 950 and 1000 CE. Digs have shown that Mound 72 was not built as one mound. Instead, it was a series of smaller mounds. These smaller mounds were later reshaped and covered to create the final ridge-top Mound 72.
From 2002 to 2010, a copper workshop was found near Mound 34. This was a unique discovery. It was first found in the 1950s, but its exact spot was lost for 60 years. It is the only known copper workshop found at a Mississippian site. The area has remains of three tree stumps. These were likely used to hold anvil stones for working metal. Copper found here was "annealed." This means it was heated and cooled many times while being shaped. This is like how blacksmiths work with iron.
Artists made religious items from copper. These included maskettes and ceremonial earrings. Many copper plates from other Mississippian sites are similar in style. Experts believe many of these were made in Cahokia in the 1200s.
Cahokia Woodhenge: An Ancient Calendar
The Cahokia Woodhenge was a series of large timber circles. They were about 850 meters (2,789 feet) west of Monks Mound. Experts think they were built between 900 and 1100 CE. Each new circle was larger and had 12 more posts than the one before it. The site was found in the early 1960s during highway construction.
Archaeologist Dr. Warren Wittry discovered unusual, large post holes. When plotted, these holes formed arcs. Wittry thought these arcs could be full circles. He called them "woodhenges," like the famous circles in England. More digs in the 1960s–1980s confirmed five separate timber circles. They are called Woodhenges I through V.
In 1985, Woodhenge III was rebuilt using the original post positions. This circle has 48 posts and a 49th central post. It has been used to study ancient astronomy at Cahokia. The Illinois Historic Preservation Division holds public sunrise observations here. These happen during the spring and fall equinoxes and the winter and summer solstices. These events do not include ceremonies. This is done out of respect for Native American beliefs.
Other Mounds Nearby
Until the 1800s, similar mounds existed in what is now St. Louis. This city is about 20 kilometers (12 miles) southwest of Cahokia. Most of these mounds were leveled as St. Louis was built. Their earth was used for construction.
The only mound left is Sugarloaf Mound. It is on the west bank of the Mississippi River. It used to mark the border between St. Louis and the old city of Carondelet.
Cahokia Museum and Interpretive Center
The Cahokia Museum and Interpretive Center welcomes up to a million visitors each year. The building opened in 1989. It has won several awards for its design and construction.
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Tamarois et Caouquias on a map of Illinois in 1718 south of the confluence of the Illinois and Mississippi rivers (approximate modern state area highlighted) from Carte de la Louisiane et du Cours du Mississipi by Guillaume de L'Isle
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The Rattlesnake Causeway leading from Monks Mound to Mound 66 is the city's ceremonial north-south axis.
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The "Chunkey Player" statuette made of Missouri flint clay depicts the ancient Native American game of chunkey. The statuette is believed to have been originally crafted at or near Cahokia Mounds was excavated at a Mississippian site in Muskogee County, Oklahoma.
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Clay statuette excavated at Cahokia site
Images for kids
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Cahokia winter solstice sunrise over Fox Mound and the Cahokia Woodhenge around 1000 AD. Artist's concept.
See also
In Spanish: Cahokia para niños
