Can we talk about the hidden layers at the Cahokia Mounds site?

I drove down to the Cahokia Mounds in Illinois last weekend, and something really caught my eye. I've been there before, but this time I noticed these small erosion patterns near the base of Monks Mound that seemed to reveal different soil colors. It got me thinking about how the Mississippian people built these up in stages over hundreds of years, and you can actually see the old ground surfaces if you look close enough. I spent like an hour just walking around the back side where they have that cutaway section, and you can spot these dark organic layers between lighter clay bands. That's where they stopped building for a while and grass grew over before they added more dirt on top. The signs at the site mention it briefly, but I wish they had a diagram showing all those hidden layers. Has anyone else spotted where they can see the different construction phases at a mound site, or know a good book that breaks down the stratigraphy?

2 comments

2 Comments

wood.noah5d ago

Hell yeah, you nailed it. That cutaway section on the back of Monks Mound is the best part of the whole site, no joke. I've been geeking out on Cahokia for a few years now and those dark organic layers are basically buried old topsoils, like you said. Each one marks a pause in building when the whole mound sat idle for a generation or two. If you want the real dirt on the stratigraphy, grab "Cahokia: Ancient America's Great City on the Mississippi" by Timothy Pauketat. He breaks down all those construction phases and what they found in each layer, including the posts and buildings they uncovered. It's a dry read in parts but the diagrams and photos are worth it.

jordanm195d ago

Has anyone else seen the drone footage that caught those weird soil discolorations on the north side during a dry summer? I remember reading a blog post from some archaeologist who said it showed buried post holes that match the lunar alignment stuff they've been debating. Makes you wonder what else is hiding under all that grass.