Decline of Cahokia

Timeline

1. c. 1200–1220Cahokia mound complex · IllinoisArchaeological strata show that construction of large platform mounds and ceremonial building activity slowed markedly, with elite burials and symbolic goods (such as copper ornaments and shells) decreasing, indicating the beginning of the collapse of the political and religious center's functions.
2. 1205–1300Cahokia and the surrounding Mississippi Valley · Mississippi River basinSettlement sizes continued to shrink, with residents migrating to smaller towns and dispersed farmsteads; regional trade and tribute networks broke down, and Mississippian culture continued in dispersed chiefdom forms rather than maintaining a single giant metropolis.
3. c. 1350–1400Cahokia site · IllinoisThe core area was uninhabited for a long period, with mounds gradually covered by vegetation; Mississippian culture in eastern North America entered a post-Mississippian phase, surviving as smaller-scale chiefdom societies until European contact in the 16th century.