“Monumentality at Cahokia”
Friday, September 30, Noon
Dr. Timothy Schilling, Post Doctoral Fellow at the Mathers Museum of World Cultures/Glenn Black Laboratory of Archaeology, Indiana University Bloomington
Cahokia was the largest pre-Columbian settlement in ancient North America. Located near the confluence of the Mississippi, Missouri, and Illinois Rivers, west of modern day St. Louis, the site is best known for having over 100 earthen mounds. Of these, Monks Mound stands out above the rest. Monks Mound is the largest single ancient construction North of the Valley of Mexico. Traditionally, researchers speculate that the site grew around the mound through time in a slow developmental trajectory. Recent work suggests the mound was built much more quickly and in a more planned fashion. These results indicate that traditional interpretations of moundbuilding and how researchers understanding its meaning in ancient contexts should be re-evaluated. Moreover, the Monks Mound case begs a reassessment of monumental construction done by small-scale societies worldwide.
This talk is part of the Brown Bag Archaeology Lecture Series at the Glenn Black Laboratory of Archaeology on the Indiana University campus, Bloomington, Indiana. The lecture is free and open to the public. For more information, please call (812) 855-6873.
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