Cahokia, which developed around A.D. 1050 and then declined about 1350, was the largest and most important pre-Columbian city north of Mexico. Located on the Mississippi River flood plain just east of St. Louis, it contained some 120 earthen mounds of various sizes and shapes, including the massive Monks Mound that rises 100 feet above the plain. Cahokia was the economic, political, and religious center of the Mississippian culture that dominated the Central and Southern regions of the United States from about A.D. 1050 to 1600. Cahokia’s peak population may have reached 40,000, and the city covered six square miles.
In this volume, Susan Alt, an archaeologist at Indiana University, examines the complexity of Cahokian society, especially in relationship to satellite settlements in the nearby uplands to the east. She focuses on two concepts that shaped the development of Cahokia— “complexity,” which is demonstrated by societies that are strongly centralized and hierarchically organized; and “hybridity,” which is evinced when unlike peoples come together to produce dramatic social change. Alt argues that both complexity and hybridity are present at Cahokia, and that they shaped its development.
While the Cahokians hunted, fished, and gathered wild foods, they were first and
foremost farmers, and maize was their main crop, supplemented by beans and squash. Much of this study centers on Alt’s research of upland farming villages located to the east of the main center. One of these, the Grossman site, was completely excavated from 1998 to 2002 for a highway project by a team led by the author. The archaeologists found 113 structures along with associated features. In addition to residences and storehouses, they found four large public structures where gatherings undoubtedly took place.
Grossman and the other satellite settlements were administered by Cahokia, Alt concludes, to grow food for the city’s residents. The upland people reflect the diversity of the Cahokian system as well as the centralization of authority in downtown Cahokia.
Cahokia’s Complexities is an important contribution to the growing literature on Cahokia and its various aspects. It shows how archaeological research can uncover new information not only about the material culture but also about how the society was organized.
