Mississippian Culture and Cahokia in the 1050s

Timeline

1. 1051–1055Monks Mound and central plaza · CahokiaCahokia formed one of the largest prehistoric settlements in North America on the west bank of the Mississippi, with an estimated population of 10,000–20,000. Monks Mound stood about 30 meters high as an elite residence and ceremonial platform; the central plaza accommodated large gatherings, showing a highly concentrated political and religious authority.
2. 1051–1060Mississippi River basin · Mississippi River basinShell beads, copper sheets from Lake Superior, Missouri River chert, and Gulf Coast shells converged on Cahokia by river and overland routes. Ceremonial objects and maize surplus were redistributed to outlying satellite settlements, forming the Mississippian culture's distinctive mode of integration through a 'ritual economy.'
3. 1055–1060Southeastern United States · SoutheastCahokia's mound-and-plaza pattern and image themes such as the 'long-nosed god' spread to chiefdoms in the Southeast. In the 1050s the Mississippian culture formed a multi-tiered political network in eastern North America, standing alongside contemporaneous Chaco in the Southwest and Mesoamerican civilizations as a representative of complex pre-Columbian American societies.