Prior to the construction of the Interpretive Center, excavations revealed the location of over 80 structures and hundreds of pits and postholes. Careful analysis of the materials showed how this neighborhood changed from AD 1000-1200. House basins got shallower, the house got larger, and the arrangement of the changed from a linear pattern to clustering of houses around family courtyards. Storage changed from shared "granaries" to storage pits inside the houses, perhaps as resources became scarcer and there was less sharing.

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In 1806, President Thomas Jefferson signed legislation creating America's first federal highway. The National Road would join the bustling cities of the East to the resource-rich wilderness of the West, connecting state capitals, county seats, & smaller centers of commerce along the way.

The Road pressed west from Cumberland, Md., reaching Illinois in 1828. It crossed creeks & rivers, passed through prairie, forest & marsh, & into a fertile flood plain known as the American Bottom. Here, it led travelers through the remains of America's oldest city, a metropolis that thrived more than 500 years before Jefferson was born.

Road to Ruin
By the end of the 1800s, the National Road had spawned cities across eastern Illinois, opened the state's western counties to settlement, and plotted a path for the St. Louis, Vandalia and Terre Haute Railroad.

Westward migration and urbanization came at great cost to the mounds. Marvels of earthen engineering that had stood for centuries fell to ploughshares, or were cut and carted away as fill to support the growing network of roads and rails.

Road to Recovery
Throughout the 20th century, archaeologists and concerned citizens battled commercial and residential development to preserve and protect what remained of the Cahokia complex. In 1956, conservationists found an unexpected ally in the Federal-Aid Highway Act. The act funded archaeological surveys and artifact recovery at sites compromised by federal highway construction.

By 1960, plans for Interstates 55 and 70 were in place. The resulting salvage archaeology led to the discovery of Woodhenge, a cultural artifact that contributed to Cahokia Mounds being named a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1982.

(photo captions:)
In AD 1150, some 10,000 to 20,000 Mississippians lived at and around Cahokia Mounds, making it larger than many European cities at the time. Seven centuries after Cahokia reached its peak, the mounds were noted in National Road survey notes and travelogues.

Schmidt's Mound Park stood on the National Road east of Monks Mound. The site supported an inn, tavern, bandstand and casino. Schmidt's Mound was eventually razed for construction of a retail store.

Built in 1929, Cahokia Mounds' first museum was located north of the National Road.

At the turn of the 20th century, wagon wheels, steam locomotives and streetcars cut through the Cahokia complex, as illustrated by this map from 1906.

This illustration from an 1873 Madison County atlas shows the home of T.T. Ramey atop Monks Mound. The National Road, known locally as Collinsville Road, is in the background.

(aside:)
A Road of Dirt, Rock, And Dreams
In 1806, President Thomas Jefferson signed legislation to provide federal funding for a National Road. Surveyed from Cumberland, Md., to the Mississippi River, the National Road was a highway for pioneers eager to settle the West.

Today, as US 40, the National Road in Illinois spans 164 miles. From Indiana to East St. Louis, you can still see how the ambitions and accomplishments of early Illinois immigrants shaped our communities. You'll find their influence in our art and architecture, our industry and agriculture, and in our way of life. Enjoy your time on the Road.

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Before starting construction on the Interpretive Center in 1988, archaeologists excavated for two years in this area and discovered evidence of residential use, including over 80 houses and storage buildings, and several hundred storage and refuse pits.

Cahokians reused this area many times between AD 1050-1275. Four distinct time phases are identified at Cahokia Mounds.

These time phases are based on changes in structure size and orientation, as well as the number of structures and settlement patterns. The four phases are Lohmann, Early Stirling, Late Stirling, and Moorehead and are color coded in the key below.

The patterns of these structures and features have been painted on this patio directly above the locations where archaeologists found them.

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Cahokia was the largest prehistoric Indian community in America north of Mexico. It covered an area of six square-miles, including at least 120 mounds of different size and function. Initial occupation during Late Woodland times (AD 700-800) included small settlements along Cahokia Creek. These expanded and merged during early Mississippian times (AD 800-1000) and the population and community increased, reaching a peak between AD 1050-1150 with an estimated population of 10-20,000. A period of change and population decline began in the 1200s and by AD 1350-1400, Cahokia had been abandoned.

Indians of the Mississippian culture built this community and many other large and small ones throughout the Mississippi floodplain and the adjacent uplands. Cahokia was the center of a large complex chiefdom that had ceremonial and trade connections to other Mississippian sites throughout the Midwest and Southeast.

The decline of Cahokia may be attributed to a combination of many factors, including depletion of resources in the region; internal social and political unrest; external friction and conflicts with other groups; climatic changes affecting crops and local flora and fauna; soil exhaustion due to intensive agriculture; and loss of control and influence over contemporary sites and groups.

[Captions:]
The location and distribution of mounds at Cahokia form a rough diamond with Monks Mound at its center. Canteen Creek, right, joins Cahokia Creek, which flows into the Mississippi River.

Long distance trade brought many exotic materials to Cahokia’s markets, including Gulf Coast and Atlantic sea shells; copper from around Lake Superior; mica from the southern Appalachians; and chert (flint), salt, minerals and other goods from throughout the Midwest.

Central Cahokia about A.D. 1150-1200

Families lived in pole-and-thatch houses around the 120 mounds of this ancient city. Ceremonial buildings and the homes of the elite stood on top of the many platform mounds.

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With Mississippian Sites
*Mound Group
*Single Mound Site
*Moundless Community

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