Located on the banks of the Mississippi River near current day St. Louis, this city reached a population of 15,000 to 20,000 people at its peak.
In 1100 A.D.
Cahokia became the most important center of the Mississippian culture. This civilization flourished in settlements that stretched along major waterways throughout what is now the Midwest, Eastern, and Southeastern United States.
Cahokia maintained trade networks with communities as far north as the Great Lakes and as far south as the Gulf Coast.
At the height of its development, Cahokia was the largest urban center north of the great Mesoamerican cities in Mexico and Central America. Like many Indigenous American cities, its layout appears to have been influenced by astronomical observations, including the Moon's 18.6-year lunar cycle, which played an important role in timekeeping and ceremonial life.
Cahokia was just one of many Indigenous settlements ranging from small villages to large cities that thrived across North America long before 1492. Much of this history was lost or overlooked for centuries, but archaeologists, historians, Indigenous communities, and citizen scientists continue working to recover and better understand this remarkable chapter of the continent's past.
