At the vast plaza in the city's center rose the largest earthwork in the Americas, the 100-foot Monks Mound.Īround the great urban center, farmers grew crops to feed the city-dwellers, who included not only government officials and religious leaders but also skilled tradesworkers, artisans and even astronomers. Many were massive, square-bottomed, flat-topped pyramids - great pedestals atop which civic leaders lived. An Indian trader paddling down the Mississippi River during the city's heyday between 10 couldn't have missed it.Ĭahokia was the largest city ever built north of Mexico before Columbus and boasted 120 earthen mounds. North America was dotted in those days with villages, strung together by a loose web of commerce. Welcome to the city of Cahokia, population 15,000. Image courtesy of Cahokia Mounds State Historic Site The ancient civilization's massive remains stand as one of the best-kept archaeological secrets in the country. and withered away about a century before Columbus reached America. This culture arose in the Mississippi Valley, in what is now Illinois, about 700 A.D. These weren't the Maya or Aztecs of Mexico. Imagine an ancient Native American settlement where people built pyramids, designed solar observatories and, we must report, practiced human sacrifice. Metropolitan Life on the Mississippi By Nathan Seppa Review recent Post coverage of archaeological discoveries around the world.
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