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The Cahokia Mounds (also simply known as Cahokia) (11 MS 2) is the site of a Native American city (which existed c.

The state archaeology park lies in south-western Illinois between East St. The park covers 2,200 acres (890 ha), or about 3.5 square miles (9 km2), and contains about 80 manmade mounds, but the ancient city was much larger. At its apex around 1100 AD, the city covered about 6 square miles (16 km2), included about 120 earthworks in a wide range of sizes, shapes, and functions, and had a population of between 15,000 and 20,000 people. Cahokia 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 the Southeastern United States, beginning around 1000 AD. Today, the Cahokia Mounds are considered to be the largest and most complex archaeological site north of the great pre-Columbian cities in Mexico. The mounds were later named after the Cahokia tribe, a historic Illiniwek people living in the area when the first French explorers arrived in the 17th century. As this was centuries after Cahokia was abandoned by its original inhabitants, the Cahokia tribe was not necessarily descended from the earlier Mississippian-era people. Most likely, multiple indigenous ethnic groups settled in the Cahokia Mounds area during the time of the city's apex. Cahokia Mounds is a National Historic Landmark and a designated site for state protection. It is also one of the 26 UNESCO World Heritage Sites within the United States. The largest pre-Columbian 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. 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).

Although 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. Mound building at this location began with the emergent Mississippian cultural period, around the 9th century CE. Cahokia became the most important center for the Mississippian culture. This culture was expressed in settlements that ranged along major waterways across what is now the Midwest, Eastern, and Southeastern United States. Cahokia was located in a strategic position near the confluence of the Mississippi, Missouri, and Illinois Rivers.

At least two of these larger clusters were present at Cahokia, one dating to the mid-7th and 9th centuries.

Louis, and Cahokia were all constructed at this time. At the high point of its development, Cahokia was the largest urban center north of the great Mesoamerican cities in Mexico and Central America. As a result of archeological excavations in the early 21st century, new residential areas were found to the west of Cahokia; this discovery increased estimates of historic area population.

Many people leaving Cahokia went south into the Cairo Lowlands of southern Illinois and further south in the Central Mississippi Valley.

Louis was defined by the mounds that Cahokians had constructed across the river, referred to at one point as "Mound City." Nearly all these mounds in Downtown St.

Artist Jaune Quick-to-See Smith, a member of the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes, displayed the works, "State Names Map: Cahokia" and "Trade Canoe: Cahokia", both inspired by the site, as part of an exhibit at St.

Other prominent Cahokia academics include Warren Wittry, who was instrumental in the recovery of Cahokia Woodhenge.

Louis, some 8 mi (13 km) to the west of Cahokia.

Cahokia Mounds State Historic Site UNESCO collection on Google Arts and Culture

Quick Facts

• Cahokia Mounds is a National Historic Landmark and a designated site for state protection.
• The largest pre-Columbian 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.
• Today, the Cahokia Mounds are considered to be the largest and most complex archaeological site north of the great pre-Columbian cities in Mexico.
• As this was centuries after Cahokia was abandoned by its original inhabitants, the Cahokia tribe was not necessarily descended from the earlier Mississippian-era people.
• 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).

Source material: Wikipedia - "Cahokia". Adapted and summarized for DiscoverScroll. Original contributors are credited through the linked Wikipedia article. Read original on Wikipedia. CC BY-SA 4.0. Changes were made from the original.