Cahokia

City of the Sun

Cahokia was the most complex and influential Native American city, North of Mexico. At the peak of Cahokia about 1200 A.D, it's population of 10-20,000 would not be surpassed in the United States until the 18th century. There were over 120 mounds at Cahokia. They served as burial and ceremonial sites, as well as homes to the elite and Chieftains. Monks Mound is 100 feet tall and 14 acres wide at the base, making it the largest prehistoric earthen structure in the world. It is roughly the same size as the Great Pyramid of Giza and is larger at the base, then the Pyramid of the Sun in Teotihuacan, Mexico. This ancient city was situated on the Mississippi river flood plain, known as the American Bottom in South Western Illinois. The Mississippians also built great plazas, stockade walls with watch towers, and a solar calendar known today as Woodhenge. They grew an abundance of maize and other crops, which allowed them to have a surplus for winter and for trade. Located at the confluence of the Missouri, Illinois and Mississippi Rivers, the Native people of Cahokia had many means of transportation and commerce.
Aztalan is the premier Northern outpost in Jefferson County, Wisconsin.
These Native Americans, are direct descendants of the Mississippians.