Cahokia Mounds

Cahokia Mounds has impacted Illinois history by the many priceless artifacts that were left behind, the unique mounds which are visited by people worldwide, and the almost unbelievable facts about the civilization which are studied by people every day.

The civilization of Cahokia Mounds was nothing but flattened earth in the beginning, but around 700 CEa group of Late Woodland people began to settle in Cahokia, in present-day Illinois, near the Mississippi River. Cahokia Mounds is the remains of a complex civilization that took place between the period of the Vikings attacks on Europe and Columbus’ discovery of America. The site covers 6 square miles and features around 120 mounds (some ceremonial and some burial). It is estimated that Cahokia’s

Woodhenge were rings of wooden columns that were used to determine solar and seasonal events. Buildings, fences, and platforms were contrasted out of wood too, along with mud plaster and thatched roofs which were common. In all there is about 120 mounds in this civilization that are arranged around a Grand Plaza, the size of some forty-five football fields. Majority of these mounds, including the ten story high Monk’s Mound were complete by the twelfth century. Monk’s Mounds, named after a French Trappist monastic community, is 1,000 feet long and 800 feet wide and incorporates four terraces. Only a few mounds including Monk’s Mounds have more than two terraces. Surrounding the mounds was an enormous log palisade that measured 13 to 16 feet high and about 2.4 miles in length. Considering this huge structure was made up of over 20,000 trees the local woodlands around Cahokia Mounds were scarce. Moving in to the center of Cahokia Mounds, farmers grew crops to feed the city-dwellers, who not only included government officials and religious leaders but also skilled tradesworkers, artisans and even astronomers. Cahokia Mounds was a corn-based economy growing in the fertile Mississippi Valley which provided a reliable food source year round. The inner city was also shared with the traders who came from other societies all across America. Along with corn, the people of

It is located just outside of Collinsville, Illinois, a short distance off Interstate 55/70 and 255, along Route 40. The site features a variety of special events which include: craft classes, lecture series, tours and other programs year round. There are also many modern add-ons to Cahokia Mounds which include the stairway leading up to the top of Monks Mound. The summit provides an excellent view of the site and of the city, Saint Louis just across the river. Even to this day 95 percent of the sites remain untouched by archaeological trowel. Another wonderful feature to current day Cahokia Mounds is that visitors can learn a lot about anthropologists by wandering through the Cahokia Mounds Interpretive Center. To shorten up, scientists are constantly discovering new information about the Cahokia community, the biggest mystery that remains is which modern Indian tribe is descended from the residents of the ancient city, as well as just what it was that caused them to abandon their