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{{short description|Archaeological site in southwestern Illinois, US}} {{About|the Native American UNESCO World Heritage site in Illinois, U.S}} {{Use American English|date = February 2019}} {{Use mdy dates|date=April 2025}} {{Infobox protected area | name = Cahokia Mounds State Historic Site | photo = Monks Mound - Summer 2024.jpg | photo_caption = [[Monks Mound]] is the largest earthen structure at Cahokia (for scale, people below and on top). About 80 earthen mounds or [[Earthworks (archaeology)|earthworks]] survive at the archeology site out of perhaps as many as 120 at the city's apex. | map = USA | relief = 1 | map_caption = | location = [[St. Clair County, Illinois|St. Clair County]], [[Illinois]], U.S. | nearest_city = [[Collinsville, Illinois]] | coordinates = {{coord|38|39|14|N|90|3|52|W|region:US|display=inline, title}} | area_acre = 2200 | established = | visitation_num = | visitation_year = | governing_body = [[Illinois Historic Preservation Division]] | embedded1 = {{designation list | embed=yes | designation1 = WHS | designation1_offname = Cahokia Mounds State Historic Site | designation1_date = 1982 (6th [[World Heritage Committee|session]]) | designation1_type = Cultural | designation1_criteria = iii, iv | designation1_number = [https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/198 198] | designation1_free1name = Region | designation1_free1value = [[List of World Heritage Sites in North America|Europe and North America]] | designation2 = NRHP | designation2_offname = Cahokia Mounds | designation2_date = October 15, 1966<ref name="nhlsum"/> | designation2_number = 66000899 | designation3 = NHL | designation3_offname = Cahokia Mounds | designation3_date = July 19, 1964<ref name="nhlsum"/> }} }} <!-- END Protected Areas Infobox --><!-- Note: site is not listed in IUCN database, but as a World Heritage Site appears to conform with Category III --> '''Cahokia Mounds''' {{IPAc-en|k|Ι|Λ|h|oΚ|k|i|Ι}} ([[Smithsonian trinomial|11 MS 2]])<ref>Pursell 205</ref> is the site of a [[Indigenous peoples of the Americas|Native American]] city (which existed {{circa}} 1050β1350 CE)<ref>{{cite journal | last1 = Munoz | first1 = Samuel E. | last2 = Schroeder | first2 = Sissel | last3 = Fike | first3 = David A. | last4 = Williams | first4 = John W. | year = 2014 | title = A record of sustained prehistoric and historic land use from the Cahokia region, Illinois, USA | journal = Geology | volume = 42 | issue = 6| pages = 499β502 | doi = 10.1130/g35541.1 | bibcode = 2014Geo....42..499M }}</ref> directly across the [[Mississippi River]] from present-day [[St. Louis]]. The state archaeology park lies in south-western [[Illinois]] between [[East St. Louis, Illinois|East St. Louis]] and [[Collinsville, Illinois|Collinsville]].<ref>[http://www.cahokiamounds.org Cahokia Mounds Homepage]; [http://www.cahokiamounds.org/explore Map of the Site]</ref> The park covers {{convert|2200|acre|ha|sigfig=2}}, or about {{convert|3.5|sqmi|km2|0}}, and contains about 80 manmade mounds, but the ancient city was much larger. At its apex around 1100 CE, the city covered about {{convert|6|sqmi|km2}}, included about 120 [[Earthworks (archaeology)|earthworks]] in a wide range of sizes, shapes, and functions, and had a population of between 15,000 and 20,000 people.<ref name="nps.gov">[http://www.nps.gov/oia/topics/worldheritage/Nominations%20pdf/CAHOKIA.pdf "Nomination β Cahokia Mounds State Historic Site, Illinois"], ''US World Heritage Sites'', National Park Service, accessed May 3, 2012</ref>{{efn|At its peak, Cahokia was larger than either [[Paris]] or [[London]] at the same time.<ref>{{cite web |last1=White |first1=AJ |title=Cahokia |url=https://orias.berkeley.edu/resources-teachers/societies-americas/cahokia |website=The Office of Resources for International and Area Studies |publisher=UC Berkeley |access-date=January 29, 2024}}</ref>}} Cahokia was the largest and most influential urban settlement of the [[Mississippian culture]], which developed advanced societies across much of what is now the [[Central United States|Central]] and the [[Southeastern United States]], beginning around 1000 CE.<ref>[https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/national/daily/march/12/cahokia.htm WashingtonPost.com: Ancient Cahokia], Washington Post</ref> Today, the Cahokia Mounds are considered to be the largest and most complex [[archaeological site]] north of the great [[pre-Columbian]] cities in Mexico. The city's original name is unknown. The mounds were later named after the [[Cahokia tribe]], a historic [[Illiniwek]] people living in the area when the first French explorers arrived in the 17th century.<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=White|first1=A.J.|last2=Munoz|first2=Samuel E.|last3=Schroeder|first3=Sissel|last4=Stevens|first4=Lora R.|date=January 24, 2020|title=After Cahokia: Indigenous Repopulation and Depopulation of the Horseshoe Lake Watershed AD 1400β1900|journal=American Antiquity|volume=85|issue=2|pages=263β278|doi=10.1017/aaq.2019.103|s2cid=213864803|issn=0002-7316|doi-access=free}}</ref> As this was centuries after Cahokia was abandoned by its original inhabitants, the Cahokia tribe was not necessarily descended from the earlier Mississippian-era people. Most likely, multiple indigenous ethnic groups settled in the Cahokia Mounds area during the time of the city's apex.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://news.illinois.edu/news/14/0303cahokia_ThomasEmerson.html |title=Native American city on the Mississippi was America's first 'melting pot' | News Bureau | University of Illinois |publisher=News.illinois.edu |date=March 3, 2014 |access-date=March 29, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140308102647/http://news.illinois.edu/news/14/0303cahokia_ThomasEmerson.html |archive-date=March 8, 2014 |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.archaeology.org/news/1880-140306-illinois-cahokia-immigrants |title=12th-Century Cahokia Was a "Melting Pot"|work=Archaeology Magazine |publisher=Archaeology.org |date=March 6, 2014 |access-date=March 29, 2014}}</ref> Cahokia Mounds is a [[National Historic Landmark]] and a designated site for state protection. It is also one of the 26 [[UNESCO]] [[List of World Heritage Sites in the United States|World Heritage Sites within the United States]]. The largest pre-Columbian earthen construction in the Americas north of Mexico,<ref name="nps.gov" /> the site is open to the public and administered by the [[Illinois Historic Preservation Division]] and supported by the Cahokia Mounds Museum Society. In celebration of the 2018 Illinois state bicentennial, the Cahokia Mounds were selected as one of the Illinois 200 Great Places<ref>{{cite news|last=Waldinger|first=Mike|title=The proud history of architecture in Illinois |url=https://springfieldbusinessjournal.com/2018/01/the-proud-history-of-architecture-in-illinois/|access-date=January 30, 2018|newspaper=Springfield Business Journal|date=January 30, 2018}}</ref> by the [[American Institute of Architects]] Illinois component (AIA Illinois). It was recognized by ''[[USA Today]] Travel'' magazine, as one of the selections for 'Illinois 25 Must See Places'.<ref>{{cite news|title=25 Must See Buildings in Illinois|url=https://www.usatoday.com/story/travel/destinations/2017/08/09/25-must-see-buildings-illinois/551011001/|access-date=January 30, 2018|newspaper=USA Today|date=August 9, 2017}}</ref>
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