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Cahokia

Adapted from Wikipedia · Explorer experience

A large ancient mound called Monks Mound, with people shown to help judge its impressive size.

Cahokia

Long ago, there was a very special place called Cahokia. It was a big city built by Native American people many years before today. Cahokia sat right across the Mississippi River from where the city of St. Louis stands now, in southwestern Illinois.

Cahokia was huge! It covered about 2,200 acres, which is about as big as 3.5 square miles. The city had around 80 special hills made from dirt, called mounds. These mounds were built by hand, and people used them for important meetings and ceremonies.

At its busiest time around the year 1100, Cahokia was the largest city north of Mexico. It was a very important place for the Mississippian culture, a group of smart societies that lived across much of the Central and Southeastern United States. People in Cahokia traded things like copper and shell tools with faraway places.

Today, Cahokia is very special. It is a National Historic Landmark and one of the UNESCO World Heritage Sites within the United States. People can visit Cahokia Mounds and learn about the amazing people who lived there long ago. The place is cared for by the Illinois Historic Preservation Division, and it’s a wonderful spot to discover history.

One of the most famous mounds is called Monks Mound. It is very big, covering 14 acres and rising 100 feet high—almost as tall as a ten-story building! The city had a well-planned layout with big open spaces called plazas and special paths for walking.

Cahokia was surrounded by rich land where people grew food like maize, beans, and squash. The city thrived during a warm time when crops grew well. Even though the city is no longer alive with people, it still tells us wonderful stories about the past.

Images

A map showing the locations and influence of Mississippian cultures and related indigenous groups in North America.
Diagram showing the structure of ancient ceremonial mounds used by Native American cultures in North America.
A reconstruction of the Cahokia Mounds, an important ancient city built by Native American people along the Mississippi River.
The Cahokia Mounds Museum and Interpretive Center, showcasing ancient Native American history.
An old illustration of Monks Mound, a large ancient earthwork at the Cahokia site in Illinois.
An ancient wooden circle at Cahokia, aligned with the sun's position during equinoxes.
An artist's view of the ancient Cahokia Mounds Site, showing the main Monks Mound and surrounding plazas.

This article is a child-friendly adaptation of the Wikipedia article on Cahokia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.

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