Cahokia Research Articles

Correlating Late-Holocene climate change and population dynamics at Cahokia Mounds (American Bottom, USA)

Food insecurity and the disruption of agricultural systems are often cited as explanations for the correlations observed between climate change and demographic shifts in past agricultural societies. While these narratives are abundant with data pertaining to climate and demographic changes, they often lack substantial information regarding the processes contributing to agricultural destabilization. In this article, we employ stable carbon isotopes extracted from paleosols collected at Cahokia Mounds, the largest Indigenous settlement in North America, to illustrate that vegetative communities did not respond to the multi-decadal drought that afflicted the mid-continent region at the end of the 13th century. This research underscores the existing gaps in our understanding of how plant communities respond to climate variations. To effectively utilize historical examples in shaping future strategies for adapting to contemporary climate change, it is imperative that we acquire deeper insights into the tolerance of Indigenous crops and culturally significant plants to various drought and flood conditions.

Combining Remote Sensing Approaches for Detecting Marks of Archaeological and Demolished Constructions in Cahokia’s Grand Plaza, Southwestern Illinois

Remote sensing data are increasingly being used in digital archaeology for the potential non-invasive detection of archaeological remains. The purpose of this research is to evaluate the capability of standalone (LiDAR and aerial photogrammetry) and integration/fusion remote sensing approaches in improving the prospecting and interpretation of archaeological remains in Cahokia’s Grand Plaza. Cahokia Mounds is an ancient area; it was the largest settlement of the Mississippian culture located in southwestern Illinois, USA. There are a limited number of studies combining LiDAR and aerial photogrammetry to extract archaeological features. This article, therefore, combines LiDAR with photogrammetric data to create new datasets and investigate whether the new data can enhance the detection of archaeological/ demolished structures in comparison to the standalone approaches. The investigations are implemented based on the hillshade, gradient, and sky view factor visual analysis techniques, which have various merits in revealing topographic features. The outcomes of this research illustrate that combining data derived from different sources can not only confirm the detection of remains but can also reveal more remains than standalone approaches. This study demonstrates that the use of combination remote sensing approaches provides archaeologists with another powerful tool for site analysis.

Reimagining the Development of Downtown Cahokia Using Remote Sensing Visualizations from the Western Edge of the Grand Plaza

The distribution of mounds, plazas, and defensive palisades associated with Cahokia Mounds State Historic Site (CMSHS) defines the core urban environment of Eastern North America’s first American Indian city. The large mounds surrounding Cahokia’s centrally located Grand Plaza, including the palisades that enclose them, are referred to as Downtown Cahokia. In this portion of the site, archaeologists have identified material culture (e.g., ceramics), earthen fills to level the plaza, and several earthen mound constructions. These findings suggest an occupational history for the area that occurred over the 9th–14th centuries CE, with the emergence of plaza delineation and earthwork construction beginning in the early 11th century CE. In sum, Downtown Cahokia and its Grand Plaza are considered by archaeologists to be a vibrant space characterized by ongoing American Indian transformations to an early metropolitan landscape. We conducted magnetometer and electromagnetic induction surveys at the western edge of the Grand Plaza. When compared with the LiDAR-derived visualizations we generated from this portion of the site, our aerial and terrestrial remote sensing data offered new information on the nature and sequence of monument construction in Downtown Cahokia, as well as architectural changes in domestic and special-use structures. These multi-scalar and complementary remote sensing datasets allowed us, without excavating, to trace important sequences of change in Downtown Cahokia’s history.

The exceptional environmental setting of the North Plaza, Cahokia Mounds, Illinois, USA

ABSTRACT Plazas are ubiquitous elements of community layout, defined as open space surrounded by or adjacent to structures. Functionally, plazas serve as public space for gatherings and ceremonial activities. At Cahokia Mounds, the largest pre-contact site in North America, the North Plaza puzzled archaeologists because of its unique location in a wetland. The construction of a mound and plaza group in an area inundated with water is unprecedented in the Eastern-Woodlands archaeological record and contradicts traditional conceptions of plaza space. Previous scholars dealt with this conundrum by hypothesizing that the North Plaza was drier during its construction and occupation than in modern times. However, evidence from sedimentological analysis and stable carbon isotopes of buried soils suggests the North Plaza was an inundated feature on the landscape throughout Cahokia’s occupation. The North Plaza is an anomaly in the Eastern-Woodlands that now requires archaeologists to re-envision what plazas are and how they are used.

Five Decades of Public Interpretation at Cahokia Mounds State Historic Site

Five Decades of Public Interpretation at Cahokia Mounds State Historic Site

Evaluating narratives of ecocide with the stratigraphic record at Cahokia Mounds State Historic Site, Illinois, USA

AbstractNarratives of ecocide, when a society fails due to self‐inflicted ecologic disaster, have been broadly applied to many major archaeological sites based on the expected environmental consequences of known land‐use practices of people in the past. Ecocide narratives often become accepted in a discourse, despite a lack of direct evidence that the hypothesized environmental consequences of land‐use practices occurred. Cahokia Mounds, located in a floodplain of the central Mississippi River Valley, is one such major archaeological site where untested narratives of ecocide have persisted. The wood‐overuse hypothesis suggests that tree clearance in the uplands surrounding Cahokia led to erosion, causing increasingly frequent and unpredictable floods of the local creek drainages in the floodplain where Cahokia Mounds was constructed. Recent archaeological excavations conducted around a Mississippian Period (AD 1050–1400) of earthen mound in the Cahokia Creek floodplain shows that the Ab horizon on which the mound was constructed remained stable until industrial development. The presence of a stable ground surface (Ab horizon) from Mississippian occupation to the mid‐1800s does not support the expectations of the wood‐overuse hypothesis. Ultimately, this research demonstrates that pre‐Colombian ecological change does not inherently cause geomorphic change, and narratives of ecocide related to geomorphic change need to be validated with the stratigraphic record.

Archaeological surveying with airborne LiDAR and UAV photogrammetry: A comparative analysis at Cahokia Mounds

Remote sensing technologies are becoming indispensable for archaeological fieldwork, helping archaeologists be more efficient and focused in their excavations. Assessing technological feasibility and capability is therefore an essential skill for archaeologists. This research compares digital elevation models from publicly available airplane Light Detection and Ranging (LiDAR) data and unpiloted aerial vehicle (UAV or drone) images to analyze the quality, costs, and benefits of both. Data were collected at the Grand Plaza, which served as the ceremonial center for the civilization at Cahokia Mounds, Illinois, USA, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. GPS elevation data and the Local Binary Pattern (LBP) texture operator were applied to evaluate topographical fidelity in the DEM imagery. We find that photogrammetry is a suitable replacement for LiDAR in specific areas, namely areas with low-lying vegetation. Thus, archaeologists have multiple surveying options and must carefully weigh the technologies available to them based on time and resource constraints.

Building an Unreal City: Reading the Construction of St. Louis in Eliot'sThe Waste Land

In 1959, T. S. Eliot said of his poetry, “My urban imagery was that of St. Louis.” This paper reads Eliot'sThe Waste Landin light of this comment, investigating the extent to which the construction of his hometown, St. Louis, in the nineteenth century, impinges upon the poem. The paper outlines the cultural conditions of St. Louis's construction as part of a settler colonial project, heavily influenced by certain narratives of quest and conquest. Throughout the construction of St. Louis, geographical and historical realities were continually replaced by an urban landscape which served to reflect these settler narratives. Using three separate case studies – the construction of the Eads Bridge, the destruction of the Cahokia mounds, and the St. Louis fire of 1849 – this paper makes the case that Eliot's characterization of urban space inThe Waste Landas “unreal” is rooted in the construction of his hometown.

The Ramey Incised Pottery of Cahokia (IL) USA: Diffusion and Reinterpretation of its Iconographic Message

Una interpretación iconográfica adaptada y adoptada por toda la zona Mississippiana. Cahokia es el asentamiento más antiguo y más grande en la América del Norte precolombina. Situado a pocos kilómetros de la actual ciudad de St. Louis, MO (USA), este sitio arqueológico se convirtió en el mayor asentamiento Mississippiano desde la mitad del siglo XI hasta su abandono, al final del siglo XIV. El modelo cosmológico Mississippiano, trasmitido a través de la iconografía de la cerámica Ramey Incised, generalmente está relacionado con los mundos superior e inferior. Tradicionalmente, se reconoce que la presencia de la cosmógrafia de estilo Cahokiano fuera del American Bottom representa un deseo local de participar en el fenómeno cultural cahokiano. Sin embargo, muchos expertos están de acuerdo en que los habitantes periféricos no adoptaron pasivamente las prácticas de políticas más poderosas sino que, de alguna manera, las reinterpretaron basándose en conocimientos, entendimientos e historias locales.

Prehistoric Panopticon: Settlement Visibility at Ancient Cahokia Mounds

Throughout time, cultures have manipulated the landscape for a variety of reasons, including the promotion of social control. One approach to facilitating this control is through omnipresent surveillance, known as a Panopticon design. Though the Panopticon is more commonly associated with structural design in industrial societies, the large earthen mounds constructed by prehistoric civilizations could have also played a role in maintaining social order. To explore the applicability of the Panopticon concept in a prehistoric context, visibility of the largest manmade earthen mound in the New World, Monks Mound, was modeled in a geographic information system. Results indicate that the terraces on the mound and the powerful individuals residing there would have been visible to most of the population, even when accounting for subsequent landscape modifications. This level of visibility would have projected an omnipresent threat of surveillance, possibly facilitating social order and cohesion among such a large population.

Patterns of Faunal Utilization and Sociopolitical Organization at the Mississippian Period Kincaid Mounds Site

Abstract Archaeologists have debated the degree of complexity at Mississippian period polities with some arguing that they were highly stratified and centralized and others arguing that they were politically decentralized. Faunal analyses from the Cahokia Mounds and Moundville polities have been used to suggest that there were significant differences in the foodways of elite and nonelite peoples and that deer remains were part of redistributive economies. In this article, I discuss the distribution of faunal remains from five archaeological contexts at the Kincaid Mounds site in southern Illinois. In particular, I explore species diversity and the distribution of deer body parts using utility indices and anatomical units and compare these results to Cahokia Mounds and other Mississippian period villages in southern Illinois. The distribution of taxa and deer elements from both the mound- and nonmound-related contexts at Kincaid follows patterns of possible elite consumption at Cahokia and restricted use of rare species.

EXPLORING NEW CAHOKIAN NEIGHBORHOODS: STRUCTURE DENSITY ESTIMATES FROM THE SPRING LAKE TRACT, CAHOKIA

We present the recent results of a magnetometry survey of the Spring Lake Tract conducted during the summer of 2015 at Cahokia Mounds State Historic Site located along the Mississippi River Floodplain in southern Illinois. This tract, located southeast of Woodhenge and west of the Grand Plaza, is situated north of two known borrow pits and includes an additional, previously unidentified borrow pit. Through comparing our gradiometer results with our subsequent test excavations, we argue that this area of Cahokia potentially demonstrates an increase in building density at the Spring Lake Tract during the transition between the Terminal Late Woodland and Lohmann phases. In addition, our survey and exaction results demonstrate that this area was densely occupied between the Lohmann and Stirling phases. During the Moorehead phase, we identify a possible increase in habitation based on hypothesized structure density using statistical analyses of length and width ratios (m) and structure area (m2). Our preliminary results suggest that the Spring Lake Tract saw an increase in habitation during the Moorehead phase, a new perspective on the density and use of domestic space during Cahokia's late occupational history.

The Timing of Precolumbian Militarization in the U.S. Midwest and Southeast

AbstractBayesian chronological modeling is used to investigate the chronology of bastioned palisades during the precolumbian period in the Midwestern and Southeastern United States. Nine precolumbian settlements in the Midwest and Southeast with bastioned palisades have been subject to scientific dating (Angel Mounds, Annis Village, Aztalan, Cahokia Mounds, Etowah, Kincaid Mounds, Jonathan Creek, Moundville, and Southwind). Complete radiocarbon datasets from these sites are presented within an interpretative Bayesian statistical framework. The results provide a glimpse into the history of Mississippi period (A.D. 1000–1700) fortifications with bastions and indicate that the analyzed fortifications were built and maintained predominantly in A.D. 1200–1400. This finding suggests a greater institutionalized role for defense and warfare in post-A.D. 1200 Mississippian societies. Additionally, modeling results further indicate that the investigated Mississippian centers continued to maintain fortifications for generations after their construction.

Mound Sites of the Ancient South: A Guide to the Mississippian Chiefdoms by Eric E. Browne (review)

Reviewed by: Mound Sites of the Ancient South: A Guide to the Mississippian Chiefdoms by Eric E. Browne Kathryn H. Braund Mound Sites of the Ancient South: A Guide to the Mississippian Chiefdoms. By Eric E. Browne. Athens: University of Georgia Press, 2013. 272pp. $29.95 (paper) ISBN: 978-0-8203-4498-0. Mound Sites of the Ancient South: South: A Guide to the Mississippian Chiefdoms is a guidebook for those wishing to visit Native American archaeological sites and museums in the South. The book showcases thirteen major Mississippian sites, with extended discussion of numerous others, including Cahokia Mounds State Historic Site (Illinois), Caddo Mounds State Historic Site (Texas), Town Creek Indian Mound (North Carolina), Grand Village of the Natchez Indians (Mississippi), Etowah Indian Mounds Historic Site and Ocmulgee National Monument (Georgia) and Moundville Archaeological Park (Alabama). But this is more than a simple guidebook. Bowen has crafted a wonderfully complete and comprehensive survey for non-specialists that is sure to appeal to those frustrated by the lack of a holistic, readable treatment of the “mound builders.” The beautifully designed and lavishly illustrated work begins by taking the reader on a tour of “The Ancient South” with a discussion of the world of the late prehistoric period. Bowen’s easy-to-read narrative provides an all-encompassing synthesis of our current understanding of the period from 900 and 1600 which, generally speaking, predates the arrival of Europeans and written records. Thus, understanding these ancient civilizations depends on an analysis of the archaeological record as well as what can be gleaned from the earliest accounts of surviving chiefdoms, such as those encountered by De Soto and early French explorers and historic tribes. [End Page 131] Following the introductory chapter, he takes readers to the major sites of the Mississippian world, arranged by three broad chronological chapters: the Emergent and Early Mississippian Period (AD 800–122), the Middle Mississippian Period (AD 1200–1400), and the Late Mississippian Period (AD 1400–1600). Each chapter follows a similar layout, including a summary of the various sites, including an account of their location and layout. The major features of the existing sites are described, followed by an account of the their history and significance. Moundville, near modern Tuscaloosa, Alabama, “one of the most spectacular remaining Mississippian sites” (157) according to the author, is highlighted in the chapter on the Middle Mississippian Period (1200–1400). Bowen concludes with an exploration of what happened to these highly complex, stratified mound civilizations, including an account of De Soto’s entrada, the impact of Old World disease. The book contains a glossary as well as a selected bibliography for further reading. Bowen’s work is aimed at the non-specialist and he does a fine job in presenting complex findings and theories about Mississippian chiefdoms and shaping them into an engaging narrative. His writing is clear and free of jargon and he addresses architecture, warfare, subsistence practices, and trade. At the same time, he is careful to point out the limitation of knowledge about these ancient societies. The book will appeal to anyone with an interest in early American history, and would be highly useful in Native American history classes. Although the book is designed for who actually intend to visit various sites and museums, arm-chair travelers will find it just as appealing. The book sports a durable, softbound cover and features 92 color and 23 black-and-white photographs of mound sites, artifacts, or artistic representations of life and activities at various locations. There are 20 maps. The high quality of the color maps and illustrations and photographs of artifacts would make it an ideal gift for those with an interest in the early South and southeastern Indians. [End Page 132] Kathryn H. Braund Auburn University Copyright © 2015 Alabama Historical Association

Cahokia's Rattlesnake Causeway

Recent archaeological test excavations at the Cahokia Mounds State Historic Site located in Collinsville, IL, document the planned and early construction of a large earthen causeway. Approximately 1-km long and 18-m wide, the Rattlesnake Causeway orientated Cahokia's 5° offset grid and tied Cahokia's central precinct to at least one if not two ridge-top mortuary mounds. The results of this excavation present new information on Cahokia's city plan, one that included the construction of at least 104 earthen monuments, a large central plaza, and an extensive earthen causeway marking the midline of the site.

Metallurgical analysis of copper artifacts from Cahokia

Copper artifacts from Cahokia Mounds, Illinois were analyzed from a materials science perspective to shed light on techniques used by Mississippian copper workers to deform nuggets of native copper into thin sheets. Eight small copper pieces from a copper-working site at Cahokia’s Mound 34 were subjected to metallographic examination. Replication experiments thereafter recreated features of the artifacts under controlled conditions. It is concluded that copper sheets were thinned through repeated cycles of hammering and annealing performed at temperatures achievable in an open wood fire. The welding of sheets to create multilayered objects was not observed in any artifacts and could not be accomplished experimentally. Additionally, a possible cutting method used on some artifacts was identified.

North American Indigenous Warfare and Ritual Violence (review)

Reviewed by: North American Indigenous Warfare and Ritual Violence Mark van de Logt North American Indigenous Warfare and Ritual Violence. Edited by Richard J. Chacon and Rubén G. Mendoza . Tucson: University of Arizona Press, 2007. ISBN 978-0-8165-2532-4. Photographs. Figures. References. Index. Pp. ix, 283. $50.00. This book is an important contribution to the study of Native American warfare. It is the first volume of a collection of papers presented at a symposium at the 2003 American Anthropological Association meeting in Chicago. It is published simultaneously with a separate volume that discusses indigenous warfare and ritual violence in Latin America. The papers presented here effectively dispel the myths that native societies in North America coexisted peacefully before the arrival of the Europeans and that native warfare was uncommon and relatively bloodless. The contributors to this volume show that warfare and ritual violence were of "considerable antiquity," widespread, and often very intense and quite lethal. The papers cover nearly every cultural area in North America and provide some surprising conclusions. While it is generally asserted that native warfare increased after the arrival of Europeans (as among the Iroquois, for example), it appears that warfare between tribes in the Arctic region actually decreased as a result of European contact. Other interesting observations concern the various causes of intertribal warfare. Although the desire for revenge was almost universal, there were also causes that were more culturally specific. Witchcraft accusations played important roles among the Cree, the Iroquois, and among certain Californian tribes. Among the peoples of the Northwest Coast, warfare was also "considered the means to satiate the spirits of cannibalism, war, and death" (p. 70). Among the Pueblos, long considered to be among the most pacifist peoples in North America, warfare and sacrificial killings were associated with fertility and subsistence, and essential to ensure the survival of the people. Nation-building and territorial expansion through warfare characterized the ancient civilization that built the Cahokia mounds. Among certain southeastern tribes the desire to extend political influence and power caused chiefs to destroy the ancestral shrines and temples (which were sources of supernatural power) of neighboring rivals. Prestige and the quest for captives to be adopted into the tribe were important incentives for Iroquois men to take to the warpath. Taken together, the papers in this volume remind military historians that warfare is a cultural, as much as a social and political, phenomenon. As is often the case, myths do not die easily and it is doubtful that the conclusions reached in this book will be readily accepted in certain circles outside of academia, where they might be misconstrued as a sinister attempt to provide after-the-fact justifications for the Euro-American conquest of the Americas. To avoid such false accusations, the editors added a concluding chapter discussing the ethical issues raised by this book. [End Page 561] All chapters are, without exception, readable, engaging, and free of the professional jargon that often characterizes the work of anthropologists and archaeologists. The introduction by editors Chacon and Mendoza provides excellent brief overviews of every chapter. Researchers will also find the bibliography comprehensive and very useful. Mark van de Logt American Indian Studies Research Institute Indiana University Bloomington, Indiana Copyright © 2008 Society for Military History

Review: Cahokia: Mirror of the Cosmos by Sally A. Kitt Chappell

Review: Cahokia: Mirror of the Cosmos by Sally A. Kitt Chappell

Geophysical indicators of culturally emplaced soils and sediments

AbstractArchaeologists dealing with earthen forms must distinguish those constructed by humans from those with a natural origin. Geophysical techniques can help identify culturally loaded soils and sediments. We suggest that intrinsic changes in geophysical properties, due to cultural loading, can serve as fingerprints in determining whether a mound or other earthen form is natural or culturally constructed. Culturally emplaced soils might be identified through anomalous values in geophysical properties or through unusual spatial or stratigraphic complexity. The identification of this “lumpiness” in geophysical properties may involve geophysical techniques quite different from those employed in traditional archaeogeophysical surveys. Experiments at three prehistoric mound sites (the Cahokia Mounds State Historic Site, Effigy Mounds National Monument, and the Hopeton Earthwork) illustrate a number of these techniques including studies of the anisotropy (directionality) of geophysical properties, seismic Rayleigh (surface) waves, and magnetic susceptibility. © 2002 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Cahokia and the Archaeology of Power

Cahokia and the Archaeology of Power