Cahokia Mounds

Cahokia Mounds

Standing about 13 kilometers northeast of St. Louis, Missouri is the largest pre- Columbian settlement north of Mexico – Cahokia Mounds. Cahokia was inhabited for about three centuries during the Mississippian period. This society demonstrated the engineering skills of the people through their sophisticated construction and architecture of the many mounds built, including their most famous mound called Monks Mound. Although many mounds have been eroded and destroyed throughout time, Cahokia is now protected and preserved by several different organizations. Exploration of Cahokia throughout time has given historians knowledge of its geography, history, architecture, the history of Monks Mound itself, and has given protection of preservation to the site.

Cahokia Mounds is an archaeological site on the Mississippi River northeast of St. Louis, Missouri. The site occupies around six square miles and consists of about 120 mounds, however many mounds have been destroyed since Cahokia was abandoned. Cahokia was inhabited by ten to twenty thousand people from 1050 – 1150. Cahokia Mounds State Historic Site preserves about eighty mounds today. This settlement is the largest, and earliest, pre – Columbian Settlement north of Mexico. This settlement demonstrates the existence of a powerful economic society, including agriculture and trade,  and also a political hierarchy which was responsible for trade, communal agriculture, and the organization of labor. The people of Cahokia had built a fence enclosing their most important buildings. It enclosed over 120 acres requiring about twenty thousand trees. Merchants from Cahokia traded south the Gulf Coast, north to the Great Lakes, east to the Atlantic Coast and west to Oklahoma. Cahokia’s streets and mounds were laid out according to their builders’ spiritual principles and views of the cosmos. At the center of Cahokia are four plazas in honor of the four cardinal directions – North, South, East, and West. Monks Mound stood in the center of the four plazas. The people of Cahokia built what is called Woodhenge which enclosed their large plazas and ceremonial areas. The Woodhenges were large circular areas marked off with enormous red cedar posts. Woodhenges were significant to the timing of the agricultural cycle. The entire society of Cahokia, including Monks Mound, is primary based off of two materials – earth and wood.

Monks Mound is the most famous of the mounds in Cahokia. It also has the title of the largest prehistoric earthen structure in the Western Hemisphere. Monks Mound rises to about 100 feet and includes four terraces. Monks Mound covers more than 15 acres and is 1080 feet long and 710 feet wide. In comparison to the largest Egyptian pyramid, Pharaoh Cheops at Gizeh, the base of Monks Mound is 200,000 square feet larger than the base of the largest Egyptian pyramid. Monks Mound also contains more than twenty – five million cubic feet of earth. Monks Mound is believed to have housed a temple 100 feet long and 50 feet wide and tall. This temple was Cahokia’s seat of governance and was a place for its rulers to perform religious and political rituals. Other mounds have been excavated to reveal burial sites were located in mounds.

Without the protection and preservation of this phenomenal historic site, the mounds and their history would cease to exist. Cahokia was first protected by the State of Illinois in 1923 by the purchase of a state park. It was later recognized as a state historic site which gave additional protection.  A major threat to the site was the Federal Highway Building Program in the 1950s. This program reduced the site’s integrity, but it increased funding for archeological investigations. On July 19, 1964, Cahokia was designated as a National Historic Landmark. Then on October 15,1966, it was listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Finally, Cahokia was designated a UNESCO World Heritage site in 1982. USESCO stands for The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization. This park protects 2,200 acres. Cahokia is the only site in Illinois and is one of the twenty – one World Heritage Sites in the United States. Recently in August 2007, parts of Monks Mound were excavated twice as an attempt to avoid erosion due to slumping and sliding. Cahokia is one of the few ancient civilizations that still remain today. It has given researchers and historians a look into pre- Columbian time and has allowed for an understanding of its complex chiefdom society.

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