Cahokia - Lohman-Stirling

  General Description   Generations of archaeologists have been amazed that the geographical location of Cahokia had "almost no inhabitants’ until 1000 CE. ^[1] Suddenly there was an influx of people of more than one group ^[2] - the "population surges by at least an order of magnitude within decades" ^[3] - bringing with them to this heretofore vacant spot a new social and settlement structure and an obsession with moundbuilding. ^[4] Bill Romaine (2009) has noted, based on lunar alignments used at Cahokia, there were cultural similarities to a Toltec site in Arkansas. ^[5]
The period of 1000-1150 CE is thus one of great change and demographic expansion. The previous settlement pattern of nucleated clusters of houses "was abandoned in favor of widely scattered single-family farmsteads" ^[6] between which were structures "with special ritual and social significance." ^[7] Whilst most Cahokians were self-sufficient granaries were also present. ^[1] There were likely at least 50,000 people supported within the the 2000 Km2 region of ’greater Cahokia’ ^[8] of which about 15,000 lived in an area called the ’central administrative complex’. ^[8]
Many archaeologists are skeptical whether there was a ruler king at Cahokia ^[9] the polity more likely led by a "a priesthood or a group of ruler-priests" ^[10] within a social strata that included included chiefs, sub-chiefs, elders, priests, and other religious functionaries." ^[9] The Cahokians were capable of feats of organization that included the famous Monks Mound and other mounds which required moving 1.1 million m3 or earth and a 15m high wooden palisade that ran for nearly 3km. ^[11]

[1]: (Peregrine/Trubitt 2014, 20) P Peregrine. S Ortman. E Rupley. 2014. Social Complexity at Cahokia. SFI WORKING PAPER: 2014-03-004. Sante Fe Institute.

[2]: (Peregrine/Iseminger 2014, 27) P Peregrine. S Ortman. E Rupley. 2014. Social Complexity at Cahokia. SFI WORKING PAPER: 2014-03-004. Sante Fe Institute.

[3]: (Peregrine 2014) P Peregrine. S Ortman. E Rupley. 2014. Social Complexity at Cahokia. SFI WORKING PAPER: 2014-03-004. Sante Fe Institute.

[4]: (Milner 2006, 168) G R Milner. 2006. The Cahokia Chiefdom: The Archaeology of a Mississippian Society. University Press of Florida. Gainesville.

[5]: (Peregrine/Pauketat 2014, 28) P Peregrine. S Ortman. E Rupley. 2014. Social Complexity at Cahokia. SFI WORKING PAPER: 2014-03-004. Sante Fe Institute.

[6]: (Milner 2006, 100) G R Milner. 2006. The Cahokia Chiefdom: The Archaeology of a Mississippian Society. University Press of Florida. Gainesville.

[7]: (Milner 2006, 101) G R Milner. 2006. The Cahokia Chiefdom: The Archaeology of a Mississippian Society. University Press of Florida. Gainesville.

[8]: (Pauketat 2014, 15) P Peregrine. S Ortman. E Rupley. 2014. Social Complexity at Cahokia. SFI WORKING PAPER: 2014-03-004. Sante Fe Institute.

[9]: (Iseminger 2014, 26) W R Iseminger. 2010. Cahokia Mounds: America’s First City. The History Press. Charleston.

[10]: (Peregrine 2014, 31) P Peregrine. S Ortman. E Rupley. 2014. Social Complexity at Cahokia. SFI WORKING PAPER: 2014-03-004. Sante Fe Institute.

[11]: (Milner 2006, 148) G R Milner. 2006. The Cahokia Chiefdom: The Archaeology of a Mississippian Society. University Press of Florida. Gainesville.