Cahokia

For my first presentation here in Wuhan, I will be teaching about the native american city of Cahokia.  This was the largest pre columbian settlement north of Mexico.

The settlement is famous for the large earthen mounds that were built for ceremonial and burial purposes. In addition, it is the site of the american woodhendge, consisting of a variety of wooden pillars buried in the ground in line with the summer and winter solstice and equinoxes. A pretty fascinating place, at t's hayday around 1200 AD, Cahokia had a population larger than any city in Europe at the time.  Estimates range from 15,000 to 50,000 in population.

The city had minimal sanitation, and the rulers had to keep up a steady flow of immigrants to make sure the population remained steady in the face of deaths from poor hygiene and disease.

It was the centerpiece of Mississippian culture and traded with other tribes as far away as Pennsylvania, Minnesota and the Gulf Coast.

I am not sure how interested the students will be, but it certainly has me interested.

St. Louis used to be known as “Mound City” due to all of the mounds on both sides of the river. Most of the mounds have been leveled over time. Part of one still exists; it is known as Sugar Loaf Mound. In a bit of poetic justice, the Osage Nation (now of Oklahoma, but originally from Missouri) bought it in order to preserve it.

Humans first arrived at Cahokia around 700 AD, but sometime around 1050 the population exploded for unknown reasons and the city became a regional center of what is known as the Mississippian culture.

At its peak (1050-1250 AD), the city was home to 10-15,000 residents, with the regional population estimated to have been as large as 40,000. That means it may have been the biggest world metropolis of its time, surpassing even London and Paris.

The center of Cahokia, both geographically and spiritually, was the huge Monk's Mound. It was the home of the city's ruling priest, who lived in a wooden temple at the peak. He ruled over a social structure similar to that of the Maya or ancient Egyptians, with a graded aristocracy and a proletariat of slaves and commoners.

Cahokia's downfall was just as sudden as its rise. For some reason, by 1300, the once-magnificent city had been virtually abandoned and its people dispersed. It's possible that the construction of the great mound contributed to Cahokia's demise by overexploiting natural resources. Agricultural degradation, droughts, and overpopulation may also have been factors. In the late 1600s, the Cahokia Indians (of the Illinois confederacy) came to the area and it is from them that the site derives its name.

More to this post later.