Cahokia - Moorehead

  General Description   Generations of archaeologists have been amazed that at the geographical location of Cahokia there were "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] Almost equally puzzling, the society came to an abrupt end with a migration away around 1250 CE. ^[5]
The fall of Cahokia probably occurred across the whole of the 1200-1275 CE period. Milner estimates that by the Morehead phase the Cahokia (city) population had fallen about 40% from the Lohmann peak. ^[6] The settlement pattern was still of nucleated clusters of houses ^[7] between which were structures "with special ritual and social significance." ^[8] At its height about 15,000 lived in an area called the ’central administrative complex’. ^[9]
Many archaeologists are skeptical whether there was a ruler king at Cahokia ^[10] the polity more likely led by a "a priesthood or a group of ruler-priests" ^[11] within a social strata that included included chiefs, sub-chiefs, elders, priests, and other religious functionaries." ^[10] Whilst most Cahokians were self-sufficient granaries were also present. ^[1] 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. ^[12]

[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/Kelly 2014, 24) P Peregrine. S Ortman. E Rupley. 2014. Social Complexity at Cahokia. SFI WORKING PAPER: 2014-03-004. Sante Fe Institute.

[6]: (Milner 2006, 124) G R Milner. 2006. The Cahokia Chiefdom: The Archaeology of a Mississippian Society. University Press of Florida. Gainesville.

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

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

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

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

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

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