Exploring North America’s Ancient Urban Center
Cahokia was a massive and complex city located near modern-day St. Louis. At its height around 1050–1200 CE, it was one of the largest urban centers in North America.
A Monumental City
Cahokia featured enormous earthen mounds, central plazas, and organized neighborhoods. Monks Mound remains one of the largest prehistoric earthworks in the Western Hemisphere.
A Network of Influence
The city thrived on:
Farming
Craft production
Trade across vast distances
Its people built a sophisticated society with religious centers, political structures, and vibrant cultural practices.
Why Cahokia Declined
Possible reasons include environmental stress, resource depletion, climate shifts, or social changes. No single answer explains its disappearance.
A Civilization Rediscovered
Cahokia challenges the idea that complex cities only rose in Europe or Mesoamerica, proving that North America had advanced societies long before European contact.
