Monks Mound largest prehistoric earthen construction in the Americas
At Woodhenge (below) cedar posts are arranged to assist in the location of the various seasonal equinoxes and solstices.
One of the twin mounds
The first leg of our driving trip to New Orleans took us a mere 230 miles to Cahhokia Mounds State Historical Site just outside of St. Louis. This archaeological site encompasses some 4000 acres and in 1000 AD had a population of ten to twenty thousand native Americans making it the largest city north of Mexico. Some eighty mounds have been identified--all built by hand. Some have burials in them but the majority seemed to be for ceremonial purposes. Our tour took us through the grounds with a guide and then up the stairs to the top of Monks Mound some one hundred feet high.
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