The inhabitants left no written records beyond symbols on pottery, shell, copper, wood, and stone, but the elaborately planned community, woodhenge, mounds, and burials reveal a complex and sophisticated society. Mound building at this location began with the emergent Mississippian cultural period, about the 9th century CE. Cahokia is located near the center of this map in the upper part of the Middle Mississippi area.Īlthough some evidence exists of occupation during the Late Archaic period (around 1200 BCE) in and around the site, Cahokia as it is now defined was settled around 600 CE during the Late Woodland period. Ī map showing approximate areas of various Mississippian and related cultures. It was recognized by USA Today Travel magazine, as one of the selections for 'Illinois 25 Must See Places'. In celebration of the 2018 Illinois state bicentennial, the Cahokia Mounds were selected as one of the Illinois 200 Great Places by the American Institute of Architects Illinois component (AIA Illinois). The largest prehistoric earthen construction in the Americas north of Mexico, the site is open to the public and administered by the Illinois Historic Preservation Division and supported by the Cahokia Mounds Museum Society. It is also one of the 24 UNESCO World Heritage Sites within the United States. Today, the Cahokia Mounds are considered to be the largest and most complex archaeological site north of the great pre-Columbian cities in Mexico.Ĭahokia Mounds is a National Historic Landmark and a designated site for state protection. Ĭahokia was the largest and most influential urban settlement of the Mississippian culture, which developed advanced societies across much of what is now the central and southeastern United States, beginning more than 1,000 years before European contact. At the apex of its population, Cahokia may have briefly exceeded contemporaneous London, which at that time was approximately 14,000–18,000. At its apex around 1100 CE, the city covered about 6 square miles (16 km 2) and included about 120 manmade earthen mounds in a wide range of sizes, shapes, and functions. The park covers 2,200 acres (890 ha), or about 3.5 square miles (9 km 2), and contains about 80 mounds, but the ancient city was much larger. This historic park lies in south-western Illinois between East St.
1050–1350 CE ) directly across the Mississippi River from modern St. The Cahokia Mounds State Historic Site / k ə ˈ h oʊ k i ə/ ( 11 MS 2) is the site of a pre-Columbian Native American city (which existed c. Cahokia winter solstice sunrise over Fox Mound and the Cahokia Woodhenge ca.