Interactions between the Caddo and Cahokia Regions

Abstract

Direct material evidence of contact between the southern Caddo area and Cahokia is sparse but of considerable interest because establishment of connections between the regions appears to have had profound implications for the subsequent history of the Caddo Area. Flint clay figures and a broad range of copper items including cut sheet copper hand symbols and long-nose god maskettes likely were brought to the Caddo area following visitations or pilgrimages to Cahokia during the 11th century. Movement of ritual items from Cahokia may have been accompanied by the transfer of ideas that modified Caddo religious practices, legitimized social divisions, and institutionalized positions of authority. The passage of people, information, and goods facilitated the establishment of new cultural traditions at local levels, and connected people in the Caddo area to the increasingly integrated “Mississippian” world in eastern North America.