CAHOKIA MOUNDS

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

THE SPECIAL MOUND HOUSE WAS USED AS A RESIDENCE BY EUROPEANS AND PROBABLY WAS THE HOUSE OF THE CHIEF ORIGINALLY. THERE IS A CIRCLE OF POSTS THAT THEY CALL WOODHENGE. THEY USED TO MAKE ASTRONOMICAL SIGHTINGS. ARCHAEOLOGISTS DISCOVERED THAT ASTRONOMICAL SIGHTINGS INCLUDING THE MARKING OF SOLSTICES AND EQUINOXES. THEY WERE PLACED THERE PURPOSELY! THE STRUCTURES WERE REBUILT DURING THE CITY'S 300 YEAR HISTORY. A BEAKER WAS FOUND BY THE POST'S PIT AND IT HAD A CIRCLE AND A CROSS THAT FOR MANY NATIVE AMERICANS SYMBOLIZED THE EARTH'S FOUR DIRECTIONS. THEY HAVE SOPHISTICATED ENGINEERING THROUGHOUT THE CITY.

A WOODEN STOCKADE WAS BUILT WITH DEFENSIVE WATCHTOWERS AND IT FORMED A TWO MILE ENCLOSURE AROUND MONKS MOUND. IT WAS BUILT DEFENSE. CAHOKIA WAS BUILT AS AN IMPORTANT CITY FOR THE PEOPLE KNOWN TODAY AS MISSISSIPIANS. THEIR SETTLEMENTS WERE IN THE MIDWEST, SOUTHEAST, AND EASTERN U.S. IT WAS STRATEGICALLY LOCATED BY THE MISSISSIPPI, MISSOURI, AND ILLINOIS RIVERS. THEY HAD TRADE ALLIANCES WITH PEOPLE TO THE GREAT LAKES AND THE GULF COAST. CHERT, WHELKS, SHELLS, AND POTTERY AND STONE TOOLS WERE FOUND NEAR MINNESOTA. AND GOODS FROM THE GULF COAST, PENNSYLVANIA, AND LAKE SUPERIOR HAVE BEEN EXCAVATED AT CAHOKIA. AT THE PEAK OF CAHOKIA THE POPULATION MAY HAVE BEEN 40,000. THERE WERE MORE FARMERS THAN LEADERS IN THE MAIN CENTER. IN 1250 AD THE POPULATION WAS GREATER THAN LONDON.

THEY FOUND A COPPER WORKSHOP IN 2010. IT IS THE ONLY KNOWN COPPER WORKSHOP FOUND TO BE KNOWN IN A MISSISSIPPI CULTURE. THEY PRODUCED RELIGIOUS ITEMS SUCH AS MASKETTS, EARRINGS, , AND RITUAL ITEMS. THE COPPER WAS CONTINUOUSLY HEATED AND COOLED TO PRODUCE THESE ITEMS.AFTER 1300 THE CITY DECLINED. NO ONE KNOWS EXACTLY WHY BUT SOME SUGGEST THE ENVIRONMENT WAS A FACTOR OVER HUNTING AND DEFORESTATION. CLIMATE CHANGE MAY HAVE AFFECTED THEM. ANOTHER POSSIBILITY IS THAT THEY WERE INVADED BY OTHERS, THE EVIDENCE OF WARFARE IS THE STOCKADE AND WATCHTOWERS OF THE CEREMONIAL PRECINCT. THE STOCKADE APPEARS TO BE MORE FOR RITUAL SEPARATION. DISEASE AMONG THIS DENSE POPULATION MAY HAVE BEEN ANOTHER CAUSE,

WIKIPEDIA.COM