![]() Attaining a height of over 30 m, Monks covers over 7 ha and contains over 710,000 m3 of earth. ![]() Among the largest features are an enormous central plaza encompassing nearly 16 ha and numerous immense earthworks, including the pyramidal Monks Mound, the largest prehistoric earthen structure in the Western Hemisphere. It was laid out with clearly defined zones for administrative and ceremonial functions, elite compounds, residential neighborhoods, and even suburbs-all with similar orientations on the cardinal directions. Skilled administrators and a large labor force were needed to plan, build, and maintain the site. No records exist on what its original inhabitants called themselves. It was later named Cahokia for an indigenous group that inhabited the area in the 18th century. AD 950-1350) and had a peak population of some 15,000 individuals or more, was the most extensive urban center in prehistoric America north of Mexico and the primary center of the Middle Mississippian culture. ![]() Cahokia, which flourished for approximately four centuries (c. Cahokia Mounds is an archaeological site occupying some 13 km2 on the Middle Mississippi River flood plain near East St.
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