Cahokia Mounds

Cahokia Mounds, United States

Sunrise illuminates the grassy slopes and wooden staircase of Monk's Mound at Cahokia Mounds State Historic Site.

Cahokia Mounds: earthen platforms and a long-lost city rise from the floodplain across the Mississippi from St. Louis, best explored at an easy pace.

The place

Cahokia Mounds is an archaeological site in south-western Illinois, just across the Mississippi River from St. Louis, Missouri. The state historic site lies between East St. Louis and Collinsville, and the surviving earthworks are only part of the ancient settlement that once stood here. At its height the town is thought to have held roughly 20,000 people, which places it among the major pre-Columbian urban sites in North America. Its earthen platforms rise above the floodplain and are arranged around open plazas, with a wider scatter of smaller mounds that once marked homes, ceremonies and burials. Many were built up in stages over generations, so the landscape records decades of labour rather than a single building campaign. The site is a National Historic Landmark and a UNESCO World Heritage Site, and the Interpretive Centre serves as the usual starting point before walkers head out to the earthworks. The park feels open and quiet compared with major city attractions, although summer brings heat and insects. Trails vary from smooth paved paths to dirt, gravel and grass, and a half day covers the main features at a relaxed pace. Much of the archaeology remains under study, and the ground is protected for that reason.

Its story

The story of Cahokia begins well before the city itself. Traces of people using the site go back to the Late Archaic period, around 1200 BCE, but the settlement as archaeologists now define it took shape around 600 CE, during the Late Woodland period. Mound building began with the Mississippian culture, from about the 9th century. The people who lived here left no written records, only symbols on objects, the layout of their community and the burials they made. Cahokia grew into the principal centre of the Mississippian world, whose settlements ran along major rivers across much of the Midwest and the Southeast. Its place near the meeting of the Mississippi, Missouri and Illinois rivers linked it to exchange networks reaching the Great Lakes to the north and the Gulf coast to the south. Goods moving along those routes included copper, chert from distant quarries, and shark teeth and whelk shells from the sea. Earlier, from around the 10th century, the surrounding floodplain held small villages that were occupied for only a few years before people moved on. The rise of one large central town marked a sharp break from that pattern. The city reached its height around 1100 CE, but by about 1350 CE it had been largely abandoned, and why that happened is still debated. The name Cahokia came later, taken from an Illiniwek people living in the area when French explorers arrived in the 17th century. They were not necessarily descended from the builders.

What to see

Culture

Cahokia Mounds is an archaeological site and also a place of deep cultural weight for many Native American communities, so it deserves the care due to a burial ground even though it is an open park. The earthworks are fragile, and they still hold evidence that archaeologists are working to understand. Unauthorised digging is strictly illegal in every part of the site, even where the ground looks disturbed. Public talks, winter lectures and artist markets show a wider interest in the living cultures connected to the mounds, and visitors are welcome to take part. Most people walk the paths quietly with family or friends, and speaking softly near the interpretive panels and at the market stalls is part of the everyday courtesy here. Photographing the landscape and the earthworks is normal, but ask artists before photographing them or their work, and buy or admire rather than copy. Ticks and poison ivy are a practical concern on the longer trails. Stay on marked paths and leave every object where you find it.

What to wear

Cahokia Mounds has no single traditional dress to show visitors, because Mississippian-era clothing is known mainly from archaeological finds and from later accounts. The finds suggest woven plant fibres, animal hides and shell or copper ornaments, though the detail of how these were worn is uncertain. Native American communities in the wider region have their own dress traditions, including beadwork, quillwork and regalia worn at powwows and ceremonies, and some of the artists who take part in the market weekends work in these traditions. Today people at the site dress much as they would on any outdoor day out: jeans, t-shirts, sun hats and sensible trainers. Visitors should dress for summer heat and humidity, choosing light, breathable layers and a hat, and should bring long trousers for the longer trails, where ticks and poison ivy are a risk. Shoes with good grip suit the mix of paved paths, dirt, gravel and grass, and the climb up Monks Mound is easier in footwear that holds on steep steps. There is no religious dress code for the mounds, but modest, respectful clothing suits a place of deep cultural meaning, especially at the market stalls.

What to eat

Plan it

Best time. Spring and autumn suit walking the open ground best. Summer is hot and humid with insects along the trails, but public tours run most often from June to August and the July market takes place, so those months are busier.

How long. a half day to a full day

Getting there. Fly into St. Louis and drive across the river into Illinois, then take the interstate to the Collinsville Road exit; the Interpretive Centre is on Collinsville Road. Check the official site for current transport options, as this is primarily a car journey.

Budget. low

Tips

Etiquette

Nearby

Sources