A site near St. Louis once thought to be home to a small seasonal settlement is now thought to have been the largest native city north of the Rio Grande
The latest excavations uncovered evidence of more than 500 thatched houses. At its peak the city would have been home to 100,000 Native Americans.
But Cahokia lacked the density of Mayan or European settlements – instead appearing to have organised itself along the lines of ‘modern American urban sprawl’.
The remains of the ancient city can be seen at the 2,000 acre Cahokia Mounds State Historic Site, which lies just across the Mississippi River from St Louis.
The city, the most sophisticated Native civilisation north of Mexico, was inhabited from 700AD to 1400 and known for its large, man-made earthen structures.
Its original population was thought to have been in the hundreds, but in the 11th century swelled to tens of thousands.
Related articles
- The lost city of Cahokia: Archaeologists uncover Native Americans’ sprawling metropolis (dailymail.co.uk)
- Prehistoric City Found Beneath East St. Louis (indiancountrytodaymedianetwork.com)
