Existing comment:
North American Time Line:
1989: Cahokia Mounds Museum
1876: Custer's Last Stand
1811: Cahokia "discovered"
1776: American Revolution
circa 1680: Illinois (Illini) Indians settle in Cahokia area
1620: Mayflower
1325: Height of Aztecs
circa 1300: Decline of Cahokia
1000 to 1200: Height of Cahokia
circa 900: Beginning of Mississippian Culture at Cahokia
circa 800: Era of Temple Mound Building begins
circa 700: Beginnings of Late Woodland Culture at Cahokia
circa 600: Height of Mayan Civilization
circa 400: Beginning of Late Woodland Culture, Hopewell Culture
150: Middle Woodland Settlements in Cahokia area
circa 600BC: Early Woodland. First pottery appears in American Bottom area
circa 700BC: Late Archaic campsites in Cahokia area
Key to Success:
Cahokia's location in the geographic center of things brought the Mississippian culture into contact with different people and ideas. One Mississippian secret of success was the ability to learn about and improve upon what they found around them.
Because travel was limited to walking or canoe, it is likely the Mississippians' primary contacts were with their closest neighbors. Yet data show that Indians were capable of walking or running long distances in short periods of time and that Cahokians trade far and wide.
Physical evidence suggests links between Cahokia and its neighbors -- near and far:
Trade: Highly prized trade items -- sea shells, mica, galena, and copper -- were raw materials that found their way to Cahokia. Artisans worked these materials into crafted treasures that often were buried with their owners as signs of wealth and position.
Corn: Corn agriculture originated in Mexico 5000 years ago and spread gradually from there with the passing along of seed, methods of growing, and related rituals. Corn -- or maize -- seems to have arrived in the American Bottom during the Emergent Mississippian Period, after AD 800.
Mound; While strikingly similar in shape to pyramids built earlier by the Mayans and other peoples of Mexico, it is unlikely that the temple mounds at Cahokia were based on firsthand knowledge. More likely, the pyramid shape was passed on from one region to another, or maybe it is only a natural shape for people to erect as a platform to support a building.
Sun Calendars: The Woodhenge circle calendar at Cahokia marked the sunrise on solstices and equinoxes, the first days of the four seasons. Mound group arrangements in the East and South, wheel-like stone circles in the Plains, and alignments of buildings and stone markers in the Southwest all show an interest in and need for measuring time among prehistoric Indians.
Climate and Culture:
Over thousand of years, prehistoric Indians in Illinois adjusted their cultures to adapt to environmental stresses caused by climatic changes. Learn here how climate may have affected the development of Mississippian culture. |