Cahokia? Ask any number of people if they can tell you what Cahokia is and blank faces peer back at you. Never mind that a thousand years ago, Cahokia was a civilization more sophisticated and powerful than any other in the  New World north of Mexico; or that it was one of the largest urban areas of the world, bigger than London at the time; few in America or elsewhere have heard of it.

Located in southwestern Illinois, across from St. Louis, Missouri, is the Cahokia Mounds State Historic Site. Once as many as 10,000-20,000 people lived here, hunting, fishing and gathering wild plants. Since to date no trace of a written language has been found, what we know about them comes from the accounts of early European travelers and some archeological research. Only about 1 percent of the site has been excavated, so there is still much to learn, and the mystery of who these people were or what happened to them continues.

What is known so far is that in about 700 CE, a tribe of prehistoric Native Americans made their home at the confluence of three mighty rivers — the Mississippi, Missouri, and Illinois. About 100 years later, another culture emerged which lasted until about 1400 CE. What was its name? Nobody knows. Archeologists call them the Mississippians, and the name “Cahokia” derives from a subgroup of the Illinois or “Illiniwek” Native Americans who had nothing to do with the construction of the mounds, and who arrived here in the 1600s, shortly before the French.

Visit Cahokia today and your imagination, guided by the exhibits in the Interpretive Center, provide an insight into the lives of the people who built a city here over a thousand years ago.  Scattered around the six square miles are about 70 earthen mounds. Once there were probably more than a hundred, but they were destroyed over the years by the endless march of ‘progress.’

The largest is the flat-topped, four-terraced, Monks Mound, the largest prehistoric earthen ‘pyramid’ north of Mexico, on top of which, it is believed, a temple or palace once stood. It is over 100 feet high and covers 14 acres of land. (The named comes from the French Trappist Monks who lived on the mound in the 18th century.) Climb to the top and, in the distance, you can see Gateway Arch and the City of St. Louis, itself once nicknamed “Mound City” because there were so many in the downtown area. Recent discoveries during the construction of a new bridge over the Mississippi River attest to the secrets still waiting to be revealed.

From the top of Monks Mound, the layout of Cahokia is clear. Immediately below is the Grand Plaza, probably used as a gathering place for ceremonies or markets. Paths lead to other mounds. Excavations reveal that an enormous, wooden stockade, built of 15,000 -20,000 oak and hickory logs, surrounded the central part of the city to protect it.

According to the exhibits in the Interpretive Center, the inhabitants of Cahokia were sedentary, subsisting on corn, squash and several other types of starchy plants such as sunflowers to supplement their hunting and fishing. Although much remains to be found, the exhibits and dioramas show that they had a complex social, political and religious system of life. Their beliefs appeared to focus on the sun, and mythical figures abound including the Cahokia Birdman, depicted on a tablet as a winged warrior with a falcon’s beak symbolizing both the “Upper World” and “This World” in the Cahokia mythology.

About half a mile from Monks Mound is a recreation of Woodhenge, the Cahokia sun calendar, discovered when excavations were being carried out for a new interstate highway. The site consists of five unique circles, each with a different center post and delineated with holes lined with red cedar posts. (Cedar is considered sacred by many Native Americans). The number of posts increased by 12 with each circle with 24, 36, 48 and 60 posts for the first few circles. It is believed that the rising sun on the placement of the posts in the third circle would have signaled the equinox.

What excavations have taken place raise more questions than they answer.  One mound reveals over 300 bodies (including one mass grave of 118 women between the ages of 12-250 that appear to have been sacrificed around the same time as a leader who was buried on a blanket of 20,000 marine seashells. Another uncovered the tomb of four men, missing their heads and hands.

Then what happened to Cahokia? There is no definitive answer except that the site appears to have been abandoned by 1400 CE. Some believe that a change in the climate in the 13th century may have adversely affected the food supply; others, that the pressure of such a large population would have depleted the resources in the area, forcing them to move.

Four hundred years before Christopher Columbus arrived in the New Word, a whole civilization was thriving on the banks of the Mississippi River. Yet we know next to nothing about where it came from and where it went. A visit to Caholia provides a tantalizing hint of what was once here.

IF YOU GO
Cahokia Interpretive Center is located at 30 Ramey Drive, Collinsville, IL 62234; tel 618-346-5160. It is open 7 days a week from 0900 to 1700 between 1 May and 31 October. The rest of the year it is closed on Mondays and Tuesdays as well as on major holidays. The historic site grounds are open 0800 to dusk. 
To get to the Cahokia Mounds Historic Site from St. Louis, MO, take I55/70, 64 or Highway 40 and 44 across the Poplar St Bridge into Illinois. Follow I55/70 to Exit 6 (Highway 111). Turn right onto Highway 111 South. At the stoplight, make a left onto Collinsville Road. The Interpretive Center is about 1.5 miles on the right.

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