Much Still To Be Learned About Cahokia Mounds

Examiner ^ | 4-6-2008 | Elizabeth Donald

[blam]

Much still to be learned about Cahokia Mounds

By ELIZABETH DONALD, AP

COLLINSVILLE, Ill. (Map, News) - It's so much a part of the landscape that metro-east residents often don't even notice it, except when a visiting relative notices: "Look, there's the mound."

Rising from what once was an endless grass sea parted by the Mississippi River, Monks Mound isn't even named after the Native American Indians who built it centuries ago, but the Trappist monks who lived there for only five years in the 19th century.

No one knows what the long-vanished people who built the mounds called themselves, much less what they named their terraced mound. Archaeologists call them the Mississippians, and their lives continue to be a mystery whose clues are buried in the mounds scattered throughout the metro-east and far beyond.

During the last three decades, the main part of the Cahokia Mounds State Historic Site - what once was "downtown" for the largest prehistoric settlement on the continent - has been dubbed a World Heritage Site and turned into a tourist attraction and center for prehistoric research.

In 1980, Bill Iseminger and other archaeologists drew up a plan to acquire land, build an interpretive center and learn what they could about the people who lived there. In 28 years, Iseminger has seen just about everything on that plan come to pass. Now, as site manager, he is working on a plan for the next three decades.

The new plan will focus on revamped exhibits and expansion for the interpretive center, helping the public to learn more about Cahokia and provide larger space for temporary exhibits. The site also will continue to add surrounding property as it can afford to do so from willing sellers, Iseminger said. "We've got more people approaching us than we have money to spend," he said.

There have been nearly three decades of research, testing and excavations for Iseminger, who has worked with generations of students and a number of archaeologists summer after summer as they try to find out more about the Mississippians, their culture and what ultimately happened to them.

"It's the largest archaeological site in America, so it's kept my interest all these years," Iseminger said. "There is so much we don't know, a lot of questions we have about what happened here."

The earliest campsites at Cahokia have been dated to 700 B.C., but it was nearly 1,400 years later before agriculture and mound-building began. Monks Mound was built over a 300-year period, from 900 to 1200. Woodhenge, a circular calendar built of wooden posts, was first built in 1000, and by 1250, Cahokia was larger than London with 20,000 people.

Julie Holt, chairwoman of the anthropology department at Southern Illinois University Edwardsville, said visiting Cahokia at that time would have been "like going to New York City." In fact, it would be the early 1800s before another North American city surpassed Cahokia's population, when Philadelphia reached 20,000 people. The second-largest site, in Alabama, would fit entirely within Cahokia's "downtown" area.

"There was nothing like it in U.S. history until well past the colonial period," Holt said. SIUE has sent countless archaeology classes to the site over the decades to assist in the summertime digs on the mounds, the living areas and the path of the palisade wall constructed more than 1,000 years ago.

[blam]

Letter From Newfoundland: Homing In On The Red Paint People

[Southside_Chicago_Republican]

Rinky-dink is a good description. I believe what is now a maintenance shed was the museum. All I remember about it is the human skeleton they had on display. The area was also very heavily-wooded at the time and, as I mentioned, was more of a state park than a historic site, with picnics and other recreation going on. I’m surprised some of the smaller mounds weren’t seriously damaged, because kids played on them and people evidently sat on them to get a free view of the old Falcon Drive-In Theater that used to stand at the edge of the site.

[maine-iac7]

Chaco Canyon, pre-Pueblo is the one I would dearly love to see.

A ‘relaxed” horseshoe shaped ‘apartment’ building that housed hundreds, 5 stories high, superbly built of stone with many walls still standing, straight and true, is quite a testament to the ancient builders...the shape oriented the inside curve to the south, passive solar...

Stone/cement work that is still perfect after hundreds of years

These walls were once plastered and painted

This was the ‘county seat’, as it were, with a system of wide, concrete (a better form than ours today of roads spread out across the land to outlying villages.

It is place like Cahokia and Chaco Canyon that were, for the better part of the last 400 years, ignored. Inconvenient evidence of thriving civilizations that didn't fit within the “nothing but roaming savages”, the rationale for Manifest Destiny”?

[stayathomemom]

I mentioned this article to my husband and we were discussing our recollections. I remembered a skeleton in what seemed like a chicken coop. It’s been a while.;)

[gardengirl]

Wow! Thanks for posts 11 and 12! That pretty much confirms what I’ve always suspected. I’ll have to see if I can get a copy of that book—Pioneer History of the Holland Purchase of Western New York”

My family has always been interested in stuff like that.

[gardengirl]

Sorry—posts 14 and 15. It has been a long day!

[Dustbunny]

Interesting.

[AFPhys]

People have lived in Central North America for ten thousand years. Great climate. Wonderful growing conditions. Plenty of water, food, fuel, etc.

One has to wonder why people with so many advantages remained absolutely primitive for millenia after others advanced so far.

[sevenbak]

You are most welcome. It's completely fascinating to me as well. You should read the whole first chapter of that book I linked. There's a ton more there. Also, here's something I recently came across. It's an ancient paved road, now underwater in Wisconsin. Amazing stuff. Here's some pics and a link.

http://www.atthecreation.com/ROAD/UNDERWATER.RD.html

[gardengirl]

But...but...but... Those can’t be manmade/laid pavers. Everyone knows ancient humans were too stupid to come in out of the rain! And much too ignorant to build something like that!

LOL Do I really need to add the sarcasm tag?!

Thakns! I really do love stuff like that, and I’m going to look for a copy of that book—Amazon? If/when I get time!

[sevenbak]

No need for the tag. ;-)

I'm halfway through a book that's really interesting. It's called “Red Earth - WHite lies” Fascinating stuff. We tend to think we are so superior and know the history of this land more than the “Savages” We don't have a clue.

[gardengirl]

Too cool! I’ll look for that one as well. I work at a garden center—greenhouse manager—I don’t have time right now for much of anything but I’ll definitely make time when we slow down!

[fella]

If you want to know more about the people who built those mounds just get yourself a “Book of Morman” from the LDS people the next time they come to your door. /SARC>

[Marburg72]

I put together a history of the Cahokia Mounds site and it is located here:
http://www.freewebs.com/historyofmonksmound

Please take a look and let me know if you have any comments.

Thanks
Vince

[SunkenCiv]

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	Gods Graves Glyphs	Thanks Blam. I climbed up on it about 30 years ago. It's a big pile of dirt. At that time the outer wall was being partially reconstructed to jazz the tourists. Still worth seeing. To all -- please ping me to other topics which are appropriate for the GGG list. GGG managers are Blam, StayAt HomeMother, and Ernest_at_the_Beach
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[SunkenCiv]

Whoops, sorry everyone, extra ping to this topic. No wonder it looked familiar. I’m goin’ to bed.

Marburg72, I haven’t read it yet, but it looks like a lot of work went into it, and here’s yet another ping to everyone on GGG, with your link:

http://www.freewebs.com/historyofmonksmound/

[indcons]

Interesting. Looks kinda similar to the kivas in Mesa Verde.

[indcons]

Thanks for the pings, Sunken Civ

[Bellflower]

Thank you for that interesting site. Lots about Wis legends. I'm from Wis and find it fascinating.

[Marburg72]

Thanks for the pings. I hope that this information is interesting to others. Please send to anyone that you think may be interested. I appreciate your positive feedback.
Regards;
Vince