Illinois, Part 4

And now for something completely different....

Leaving behind any semblance of modern times, our visit today was to the Cahokia Indian Mounds outside Collinsville, Illinois. This is the largest collection of mounds in North America, and the "Monks Mound" (at right), the crowning structure, is the biggest Native-built mound north of Mexico. It's actually named after the Trappist Monks who were living near it between 1809 and 1813, when writer Henry Breckenridge published an account of the area.

Cahokia itself is not named after the original inhabitants, but after a tribe of natives who moved into the area around 1600 and who were still living there when the French arrived around 1699.

So, now that we know what this place wasn't, here's some of what it was. Around 700 A.D., natives began to arrive and settle in the area. They eventually developed what's known as the Mississipian culture. Cahokia developed into a city -- one of the largest of the world at the time (the population was estimated at around 20,000 people). The city flourished between 1050 and 1200 A.D. In the years following, however, the population declined, and the area was basically abandonded by 1400. There are a number of theories of why this happened, including failing agriculture, diseases, internal unrest, and depletion of resources.

The Cahokia site hosts over 100 mounds. Some of these were burial mounds, others were the foundation for buildings. Some have yet to be excavated.

The people who lived here apparently had an extensive trade network, as a number of "exotic" items and materials have been found buried here. These are things not found in this area, and were presumably brought in from elsewhere.

The Visitors' Center has a large exhibit detailing the types of houses, food, tools, games, and other characteristics of the Missippian culture at Cahokia. For example, at left is a display of stone artifacts and tools, including spear and knife points, axe heads, small figurines, and the shaft of an atlatl (rear left), which was used as a javelin-thrower.


At right is a display of weaving. Some of the items are belts, some are cords, some are baskets.




Examples of entertainment. The drum is obvious, but other items include gaming discs (tossed and read like dice), whistles, and heavy discs for playing "chunkey", in which the discs are rolled along the ground, and players throw spears at the spot where they think the discs will stop. (Yes, I know, it sounds odd, but it stilll beats watching television....)

And the librarian in me has to note that I found a children's book in the gift shop, written by a local author, about Cahokia. It's a fantasy novel called Fishbone the Potter, and features a librarian who is really a dragon in disguise. He and a couple of local youngsters apparently go in search of lost literature dealing with the Mississipian culture in the area. I haven't had a chance to start it yet. It is supposedly the first of two books (I can't find any mention of book two, which does not bode well).