Cahokia Mounds State Historic Site

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Prehistoric sites display its historic beauty by the visualization of artifacts found or by its historical landmarks. These characteristics enable archaeologists to trace the evolution of societal influences among various geographic areas. Artifacts and pieces of historical land display a vast array of social, economic and religious entities that give insight to the cultural practices performed during a certain time period. A site that displays significant historical information is seen within the Cahokia Mounds in Collinsville, Illinois. Native American Indians play an important role in contributing to our historical events dating back thousands of years ago. Family ties to the Native American tribes enables family members to see first hand how the prehistoric cultural, social and religious practices performed evolved into a new set of practices in our society today.
As stated previously, Cahokia is a Native American site that has a unique history to it. As a result, in 1982, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) designated The Cahokian Mound site a World Heritage Site in hopes of preserving the importance of prehistoric American Indian culture in North America (Delta Sources and Resources 2010:62). Cahokia is the largest Native American settlement in North America (Schilling 2012:302). Located in the central Mississippi valley in a section known as the “American Bottom” (Schilling 2012:302). Cahokia consists of at least 120 mounds spanning over five square miles (Delta Sources and Resources 2010:62). Each mound ranges in size, with some measuring only a few centimeters high to some measuring over 80 feet high. It was debated whether the mounds were natures own creation, or man made. Res...

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...e and Dental Evidence. Southeastern Archaeology 25(2):258-273.

Pauketat Timothy R. and Susan M. Alt
2004 The Making and Meaning of a Mississippian Axe-Head Cache.
Antiquity 78(302):779-797.

Schilling, Timothy
2012 Building Monks Mound, Cahokia, Illinois, A.D. 800-1400.
Journal of Field Archaeology 37(4):302-313.

Schilling, Timothy
2013 The Chronology of Monks Mound.
Southeastern Archaeology 32(1):14-28.

Thompson, Andrew R.
2013 Odontometric Determination of Sex at Mound 72, Cahokia. American Journal Of Physical Anthropology 151(3):408-419.

UNESCO
2008 Cahokia Mounds State Historic Site. Electronic document, http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/198 accessed Dec. 6, 2013.

Yancey, Miranda and Brad Koldehoff
2010 Rolling Icons: Engraved Cahokia-Style Chunkey Stones.
Illinois Archaeology: Journal of The Illinois Archaeology Survey 22(2):491-501.

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