Structures in Cahokia

The Mounds - Marwan

The mounds were built in a way that took a lot of soil and manpower. The workers would carry baskets of dirt on their backs to the construction site. There was approximately 50 million cubic feet of dirt moved to build the mounds. This left deep holes in the ground called barrow pits. There are some that you can still see today. They would then make the soil into mounds.

Not all of the mounds were the same. They were used for different things. There were three different types. The most common was the platform mound. There were also the ridge-top and conical mounds. The platform mound may have been used as structures for political and religious rituals. They may also have been topped with buildings. The conical mound and the ridge-top mound were used for burial and for marking important locations. The mounds were very different and had many uses.

The problem with taking so much soil from the ground would have exhausted its people and soil, which might be a reason why they disappeared, they could have starved, or been ravaged by an epidemic, or maybe just moved somewhere else. There was also the fact that the slaves might have had a revolt. They also might have been forced or threatened into abandoning their city. They could also have run out of wood, because they used so much of it. This indicates that they didn’t leave peacefully or happily.

Main Buildings In Cahokia - Miles

The most common buildings in Cahokia were single-family dwellings. The most predominant buildings were the temples of religion and government. Also, some very important buildings were the houses, made out of mud, clay, and wood from the forest. The houses or very important because they need them to live. All of the buildings were built in the central portion of Cahokia.

The Stockade - Louis

The Stockade was a very important piece of structure in Cahokia. It helped protect the Cahokians from invasions and separate them from the outside world. The wall was two miles long and made from over 20,000 trees cut from the forest in Cahokia. It took over 130,000 exhausting hours to build the massive wooden structure. After the main structure was built, it was coved in clay to prevent rotting and fire. As the years passed the wall would deteriorate and would have to be rebuilt. This happened 3 times within 200 years and used thousands of trees each time. The stockade was very important, yet scientists never actually found evidence that it was invaded or destroyed

The Woodhendge - Jack

The Cahokia Woodhenge was a series of wooden posts named (by us) after the famous Stonehenge, as they were both used as a sort of calendar. It was com-prised of three circles on the ground intended to track the sun's track on certain days of the year. Crucial markers in the year included one for the winter solstice, one for the summer, and one for each equinox. For a good calendar, that would be all they'd need, but there were other markers, probably to mark events such as harvest or traditional ceremonies. It was discovered by accident during archaeological excavation in the form of specially placed pits in the ground seeming to reflect the patterns of the rising sun in different times of the year. The posts were often replaced due to rotting of the wood or mostly falling down.

Buildings and Daily Life - Phil

We can learn a lot about the Cahokian peoples’ daily lives by looking at the way their ancient metropolis was built.

One of the three inferences we can make about the Cahokian peoples is that they were observant and intelligent people. We can infer this because they built a structure archaeologists dubbed “Woodhenge.” Woodhenge was a circle of wooden posts used to make astronomical sightings. Built to the west of Monk’s Mound, it was also used to mark solstices, equinoxes, and other various astronomical cycles.

We can also infer the Cahokian tribe was well-prepared for any domestic warfare versus rival tribes. We can make this inference because they built a wooden stockade with a series of watchtowers at regular intervals. This stockade formed a two-mile (3.22 km) enclosure around Monk’s Mound and The Grand Plaza.

The final inference we can make about the Cahokians is that they worked incredibly hard. We can say this because to this date, scientists have located 109 giant man-made, grass-covered mounds. These were probably used for religious and/or ceremonial purposes. The Cahokian people must have put in enormous amounts of effort to build these ancient marvels.

The Cahokian peoples labored day and night to keep their ancient metropolis thriving. In doing so, they set the standard for what even a modern-day city should be - a community working together to improve their lives and the lives of others.