The Archaeology of Cahokia's West Plaza. Excavations in the Merrell Tract.

Abstract

With more than 100 earthen pyramids, Cahokia was the largest polity of pre-Columbian North America. Located a few kilometres from present day St. Louis (MO), it rose to be the greatest Mississippian settlement by the middle of the 11th century; until its abandonment at the end of the 14th century. Even though Cahokia is the largest Mississippian settlement, the archaeological investigations led at the site have interested only a small part of its extension. This dissertation focuses on the extensive excavations led in the Merrell Tract by the University of Bologna from 2011 to 2016. The investigations were carried out in one of the main public areas of the site, the West Plaza, and involved, for the first time at Cahokia, the employment of photogrammetry and GIS as methods of data management, recording and post processing. Along with the description of the results obtained during the University of Bologna’s excavations, the author dedicated part of the work to the collection of data from previous excavations led in the area since 1920s. Through the comparative analysis of the data recovered, the author intends to propose new hypothesis concerning the settlement dynamics and use of space of the area and its contextualization in the wider picture of the history of this Mississippian centre.