For centuries, Cahokia, near modern-day St. Louis, was one of North America’s largest cities, rivaling European metropolises in size and influence. Its complex chiefdom was led by ranked families and a central leader, with broad plazas, a wooden wall, and a palisade that marked space for ritual and political life.
The city’s grand plaza served as a civic stage for speeches, feasts, games, and rituals that displayed status. Monks Mound, standing 100 feet tall, dominated the center of Cahokia city and reflected years of earthmoving by hand. The mound’s base supported a large building, likely the place of a paramount chief or major temple.
West of Monks Mound stood Woodhenge, a circle of red cedar posts that tracked sunrise on equinoxes and solstices. Similar to Stonehenge in alignment with celestial events, Cahokia’s design was focused on time and civic order.
Research also suggests that the city followed lunar lines and processional routes, tying earth, sky, and rivers to duties of leaders and communities. Shrines were sometimes “closed” with silt and fire, marking endings or transitions in ritual time.
Cahokia thrived during a warm, wet interval that helped maize farming, but its decline was not solely due to climate change. The city’s food system reached beyond the floodplain, with farmers working upland plots, fishers using rivers, and hunters drawing protein from woods and wetlands.
The site has been designated as an Illinois state historic site, with ongoing excavations, mapping, and conservation efforts. Cahokia shows how people organized land, time, and belief without writing, challenging assumptions about early cities in North America.
Source: https://www.earth.com/news/largest-lost-city-in-north-america-cahokia-was-bigger-than-london