Transformation of the Mississippian Culture in North America

Timeline

1. c. 1275–1290Cahokia · IllinoisCahokia, the largest prehistoric urban center in North America, saw significant population decline and expansion of large mounds stalled, indicating weakening integrative capacity at the highest level of Mississippian culture and a shift of regional power from centralization to dispersion.
2. c. 1287–1310Lower Mississippi River Basin · Mississippi River BasinSecondary centers formerly dependent on Cahokia each strengthened local chiefly authority, trade and ceremonial networks reorganized, forming a more locally flavored post-Mississippian political landscape that laid the foundation for tribal distributions before European contact in the 15th–16th centuries.