SINCE THE GLACIERS RECEDED, THE RICH LANDS OF THE MISSISSIPPI RIVER VALLEY HAVE ALWAYS
ATTRACTED MANKIND.
HERE ARE CULTURE GREW AND
EVOLVED, EACH BORROWING FROM THE
PREVIOUS, EVENTUALLY CULMINATING
IN A NEW CIVILIZATION,
ARCHEOLOGISTS HAVE NAMED
MISSISSIPPIAN.
>> HELLO.
I AM JIM WILHELM.
THIS IS THE CENTER OF WHAT WAS
ONCE THE LARGEST CITY IN NORTH
AMERICA.
TODAY WE KNOW IT AS CAHOKIA
SOMETIMES CALLED CITY OF THE SUN
IT MIGHT ALSO BE CALLED THE PEN
KEL OF THE MISSISSIPPIAN CULTURE
LOCATED AT THE CONFLUENCE OF THREE RIVERS, WHOSE WATERS PROVIDED BY BOTH AND
TRANSPORTATION, CAHOKIA REACHED
AN ESTIMATED POPULATION OF
20,000 PEOPLE BY 1150AD WHICH
WAS THE LARGER THAN LONDON AT
THE TIME.
IT WAS A CITY COMPLETE WITH SUBURBS, PLAZAS, AND MARKETS. NOW KEEP IN MIND THAT THERE WERE
MANY PERMANENT MISSISSIPPIAN
SETTLEMENTS SCATTERED THROUGHOUT
NORTH AMERICA.
BUT THIS WAS BY FAR THE LARGEST
AND MOST INFLUENTIAL.
MOST OF THE POPULATION LIVED IN
SMALL THATCHED HUTS ARRANGED IN
FAMILY NEIGHBORHOODS.
RISING OVER THE HUTS WERE A
NUMBER OF MOUNDS SOME USED AS
PLATFORMS FOR THE HOMES OF THE
ELITE, A VISUAL REMINDER OF THE
CITY'S SOCIAL ORDER.
THE CITY INCLUDED 120 MOUNDS OF WHICH 80 REMAIN TODAY. THAT WAS THE LARGEST AND
GRANDEST OF THEM ALL.
IT WAS A CITY'S CENTER IN MORE
WAYS THAN ONE. THERE, LIVED THE
CHIEFTAIN WHO WAS BOTH THE RULER
AND SPIRITUAL LEADER OF THE
POPULATION.
IT COVERS MORE THAN 14 ACRES AND RISES IN FOUR TERRACES TO A HEIGHT OF A HUNDRED FEET MAKING
IT THE LARGEST PREHISTORIC
EARTHEN STRUCTURE IN THE WESTERN
HEMISPHERE.
CORE SAMPLES INDICATE THAT
VARYING TEXTURES OF SOIL WERE
USED TO ASSURE PROPER DRAINAGE.
JUST IMAGINE FOR HUNDREDS OF
YEARS GENERATIONS CARRIED
BASKETS OF DIRT FROM HUGE BORROW
PITS TO MAKE IT THIS MOUND.
THE WORK BEGAN BEFORE THE
VIKINGS DISCOVERED THE NEW WORLD
AND WAS FINISHED JUST AFTER THE
SECOND CRUSADES.
LOOKING AT THE MOUNDS AND ARTIST REPUBLICAN DIRKS IT IS EASY TO MAKE COMPARISONS TO SIMILAR
STRUCTURES IN MEXICO, BUT THERE
IS NO EVIDENCE THAT THE
MISSISSIPPIAN CULTURE EVER HAD
CONTACT WITH PEOPLE THAT FAR
SOUTH.
TODAY VIS IT TORS CAN DO WHAT WAS UNIMAGINABLE TO THE PEOPLE OF CAHOKIA.
TODAY, ORDINARY PEOPLE CAN COME
UP THOSE RECENTLY REFURBISHED
STAIRS AND ENJOY THE VIEW THAT
WAS ONCE AVAILABLE ONLY TO THE
HIGHEST OF THE ELITE.
WE ARE AT THE TOP OF THE LARGEST MOUND FROM WHICH THE CHIEFTAIN COULD SURVEY HIS CITY.
BUT HE WAS MORE THAN A POLITICAL
RULER.
HE WAS ALSO RECOGNIZED AS THE
BROTHER OF THE SUN.
ARCHEOLOGISTS HAVE DETERMINED
THAT A LARGE BUILDING ONCE STOOD
HERE.
IT WAS A PLACE WHERE RELIGIOUS
RITES AND ADMINISTRATIVE DUTIES
WERE THOUGHT TO HAVE OCCURRED.
NOBODY IS REALLY SURE BECAUSE
THIS WAS A PREHISTORIC SOCIETY.
WHAT THAT MEANS IS THEY HAD NO
WRITTEN LANGUAGE.
BUT THE REAL DRIVING FORCE
BEHIND CAHOKIA'S SUCCESS WAS NOT
ITS RULING CLASS, BUT THIS, CORN
SOMEHOW THE MISSISSIPPIAN
CULTURE HAD DEVELOPED A
KNOWLEDGE OF HOW TO RAISE THIS
PROLIFIC CROP IN LARGE FIELDS.
WITH THE STABLE FOOD SUPPLY, THE
POPULATION GREW.
CONSEQUENTLY, THE CITY
ORGANIZATIONS, THEIR BELIEFS AND
TECHNOLOGY BECAME MORE COMPLEX.
IN ADDITION, THE EXTRA FOOD
COULD BE USED AS TRADE WITHIN
THE CITY OR WITH OTHER
COMMUNITIES.
FOR EXAMPLE, DURING EXCAVATIONS,
ARCHEOLOGISTS DISCOVERED MICA
FROM THE SMOKY MOUNTAINS, SEA
SHELLS FROM THE GULF OF MEXICO,
AND COPPER FROM THE NORTH.
FROM THESE MATERIALS, ARTISTS
WOULD CREATE DECORATIVE PIECES
AND JEWELRY TO SELL IN THE CITY.
WHAT ARCHEOLOGISTS HAVE LEARNED
ABOUT THESE PEOPLE IS EXPLAINED
HERE AT THE INTERPRETIVE CENTER.
INSIDE, DISPLAYS EXPLORE THE
HISTORY OF THE CITY, THE BELIEFS
OF ITS INHABITANTS, AND
SPECULATION ABOUT DAILY LIFE.
THE MOST COMMON STRUCTURE IN THE
VILLAGE WAS A SMALL THATCHED
ROOF HUT WHERE ONE FAMILY LIVED.
FAMILY TIES WERE VERY IMPORTANT,
AND IT IS THOUGHT THAT SEVERAL
GENERATIONS WOULD CLUSTER
TOGETHER FORMING SMALL
SELF-SUFFICIENT NEIGHBORHOODS.
THEY HAD THEIR OWN FACILITIES
LIKE SWEAT LODGES TO CLEANSE
BODY AND MIND, PLUS ELEVATED
GRANARIES.
THE POLES WERE COATED TO PREVENT
INSECTS FROM ENTERING, AND THE
SIDES WERE SEALED WITH A MIXTURE
OF GRASS AND CLAY.
BUT IT WAS FAR FROM AN IDYLLIC
LIFE.
IN REALITY, THE POPULATION
WORKED TO SUPPORT THE ELITE
CLASS.
COMMONERS WOULD SPEND THEIR
LIVES IN FIELDS OR BURROW PITS
WHILE THE FRUITS OF THE LABOR
WERE ENJOYED BY THE HIERARCHY.
IN 1961 WHILE EXCAVATING A SITE FOR PROPOSED NEW HIGHWAY, ARCHEOLOGISTS DISCOVERED WHAT
HAS SINCE BEEN CALLED THE
AMERICAN WOOD HINGE.
SET IN A GIANT CIRCLE WERE 48
TREATED CEDAR POLES, A SOLAR
CALENDAR USED TO CHART THE
SEASONS AND TO DETERMINE THE
PLANTING AND HARVEST TIMES.
IN FACT, AT THE BEGINNING OF
EACH NEW SEASON, THE RISING SUN
LINED UP WITH A SPECIFIC POLE.
THE CALENDAR WAS ALIGNED SO
DURING THE ALL IMPORTANT SPRING
AND FALL EQUINOX, THE SUN WOULD
APEER TO RISE DIRECTLY OVER THE
CHIEFTAIN'S MOUND OF.
THIS WAS QUITE FITTING, SINCE AS
YOU WILL RECALL, HE WAS KNOWN AS
THE BROTHER OF THE SUN.
EVENTUALLY IT WAS DISCOVERED
THAT OVER TIME, THERE HAD BEEN
FIVE SUCH CIRCLES, EACH LARGER
THAN THE PREVIOUS.
EACH TIME, THE NUMBER OF POLES
INCREASED BY TWELVE.
WHY TWELVE AND WHY INCREASE THE
SIZE?
IT IS JUST ANOTHER MYSTERY OF
CAHOKIA.
>>
TO UNRAVEL THOSE MYSTERIES, ARCHEOLOGICAL WORK CONTINUES. THIS IS MOUND 72, ONE OF ONLY
SIX OF THIS TYPE OF MOUND HERE
AT CAHOKIA.
IT IS CALLED A RIDGE TOP MOUND.
IT WAS ORIGINALLY EXCAVATED IN
THE EARLY 60'S, BUT RECENTLY IT
HAS BEEN REVISITED.
TO EVERY ONE'S AMAZEMENT, MOUND
72 ACTUALLY COVERED THREE
SMALLER BURIAL MOUNDS.
AND INSIDE ONE OF THOSE WAS
FOUND REMAINS OF A POSSIBLE
CHIEFTAIN, LAID TO REST ON A BED
OF 20,000 SHELL BEADS, PLUS THE
REMAINS OF SIX OF HIS RETAINERS.
IN ANOTHER SECTION ARE THE
REMAINS OF 300 PEOPLE MORE THAN
HALF OF WHICH WERE YOUNG WOMEN
WHO HAD BEEN SACRIFICED.
INTERESTINGLY, SOME OF THE
BODIES WERE FOUND NOT IN THE
MOUND, BUT UNDER THE MOUND USING
THE MOUND ITSELF AS A GRAVE
MARKER.
NOW, KEEP IN MIND WHEN VISITING,
NOT ALL THE MOUNDS HERE WERE
USED FOR BURIALS.
MOST WERE USED AS PLATFORMS TO
RAISE BUILDINGS.
THIS TYPE OF BURIAL WAS ONLY FOR
THE ELITE.
COMMON FOLKS WERE BURIED IN THE
GROUND OUTSIDE THE CITY.
ANOTHER INTERESTING ASPECTS OF
THIS CITY IS THAT IT WAS A
PLANNED COMMUNITY.
PATHWAYS CONNECTED THE PUBLIC
AREAS TO NEIGHBORHOODS.
THE MOUNDS WERE BUILT AROUND THE
CENTRAL PLAZA WHERE GAMES WERE
PLAYED WITH MUCH BETTING.
WELCOME BACK TO CAHOKIA WHERE IT IS ESTIMATED THAT THE HEIGHT OF ITS POPULATION OCCURRED AT ABOUT
1150AD AT 20,000 PEOPLE.
YET, 150 YEARS LATER, THIS SITE
LAY ABANDONED.
WHY IS ONE OF THE LARGEST
MYSTERIES OF THIS CITY.
ALSO AT THE TIME OF CAHOKIA'S
HEIGHT, A STOCKADE WAS QUICKLY
ERECTED AROUND THE CENTRAL AREA
PROTECTING THE MAJOR RELIGIOUS
CENTER ALONG WITH SOME OF THE
HOMES OF THE HIGHEST OFFICIALS.
WAS THERE WORRY OVER RIOTS OR
DISPUTES OVER FOOD DI TRIS
BUTIONS OR THREATS FROM AN
ENEMY?
>> WITHOUT A WRITTEN LANGUAGE,
IT IS HARD TO KNOW EXACTLY WHAT
HAPPENED.
BUT IT IS THOUGHT THAT A
COMBINATION OF THINGS BROUGHT
ABOUT THE DEMISE OF CAHOKIA.
FOR EXAMPLE, THE CLIMATE WAS
CHANGING.
THE GROWING SEASON WAS BECOMING
SHORTER.
EXCAVATION SHOW OVER DEPENDENCY ON CORN IN THE DIET LED TO POOR NUTRITION.
FOR MILES AROUND, ALL THE TREES
HAD BEEN REMOVED FOR FUEL AND
BUILDING MATERIALS DRIVING THE
WILDLIFE AWAY AND ALLOWING SILT
TO CLOSE STREAMS.
PLUS, IT WAS A DENSELY POPULATED
AREA, PERHAPS AS MANY AS 4,000
PEOPLE PER SQUARE MIASM IMAGINE
ALL THE WASTE THAT WOULD HAVE
PRODUCED.
PLUS, THERE MIGHT HAVE BEEN
COMPETITION FOR AVAILABLE LIVING
SPACE.
ALL OF THESE THINGS TOGETHER
COULD HAVE CONTRIBUTED TO THE
DEMISE OF CAHOKIA.
TODAY THE PATHS OF CAHOKIA ARE
STILL IN USE, BUT NOW BY CURIOUS
VISITORS WHO WANDER AMONG THE
REMAINS OF THIS ONCE AFFLUENT
CITY.
THIS IS ALSO THE ONLY PLACE IN
ILLINOIS THAT HAS BEEN
DESIGNATED A WORLD HERITAGE SITE
BY THE UNITED NATIONS.
FOR MORE INFORMATION ABOUT
CAHOKIA CALL (618)346-5160,
INTERPLEA TIVE CENTER.