Some of the exhibits explore the Cahokian influence on other Mississippian cultures the structures and purposes of the various mounds Cahokian crafts, tools and art the history of archaeology at the site and modern threats to, and efforts to save, Cahokia. The museum also contains a complete life-size re-creation of a small Cahokian village and many artifacts - including weapons, vessels, artwork and jewelry - recovered from digs at the site. Visitors can watch an award-winning documentary titled City of the Sun - a 15-minute introduction to Cahokia. But I give credit to the state of Illinois for putting together and operating a first-class museum at Cahokia. I admit that I had my doubts whether a facility run by a state park system could do justice to a World Heritage Site. The story of Cahokia, as currently understood, is marvelously detailed at the park’s large, modern interpretive center built in 1989. Many of the mounds they built were apparently used for ceremonial purposes and a few for burial of the dead. Visitors to the historic park will find a comprehensive interpretive center that tells the story of Cahokia as well as more than 70 ancient earthworks - including the largest ever built in the Americas - connected by a series of paths and trails.Ĭahokians had a sophisticated, hierarchical society supported by extensive agriculture. (The modern-day city of Cahokia, Ill., is about 10 miles southwest of the ancient town.) About 2,200 acres centered on Cahokia’s ancient Grand Plaza are now protected as an Illinois state park. Today, Cahokia is a National Historic Landmark and a UNESCO World Heritage Site - one of only eight such UNESCO sites in the United States. Vast agricultural fields just beyond supported the residents of the town. Surrounding the central town was a 2-mile-long defensive log stockade. 1100, Cahokia was the center of a vast civilization and a city of some 20,000 residents - the largest pre-Columbian settlement north of Mexico and larger than London or Paris of the day.Īt that time, the ancient town of Cahokia covered about 4,000 acres dotted with more than 100 mounds interspersed with hundreds of pole-and-thatch family dwellings. Forgetting modernity and entering an ancient world is easy, at least from ground level, at Cahokia Mounds State Historic Site.
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