Cahokia Mound City

Timeline

1. c. 1050–1070Monk's Mound and the central plaza · Mississippi River ValleyIn the first half of the 11th century Cahokia expanded rapidly; mounds such as Monk's Mound and a palisade defensive ring were built, and population concentration along with maize agriculture and regional exchange networks made the site a political-ritual center of the Mississippian culture.
2. c. 1071–1080Core area of the Cahokia settlement · Mississippi River ValleyAround 1071–1080 Cahokia maintained the scale of the largest pre-Columbian city in North America; plaza ceremonies, shell bead and copper trade flourished, and the mound group and palisade system supported chiefly hierarchical governance and a cross-regional tribute network.
3. 1200–1350Lower Mississippi River Valley · Mississippi River ValleyAfter the 12th century Cahokia's population plummeted and large-scale construction ceased, and the settlement was gradually abandoned; the Mississippian urban model spread south to the Southeastern chiefdoms, but no center of comparable scale ever emerged again.