![Hold That Thought artwork](https://is5-ssl.mzstatic.com/image/thumb/Podcasts/v4/c2/34/35/c23435c0-6d3e-33fa-d95c-672f9c507464/mza_4295858892067938349.jpg/100x100bb.jpg)
Cahokia: Ancient City
Hold That Thought
English - March 18, 2013 15:45 - 11 minutes - 26.4 MB - ★★★★ - 12 ratingsSocial Sciences Science Natural Sciences washington university education educational hold that thought higher arts sciences Homepage Download Apple Podcasts Google Podcasts Overcast Castro Pocket Casts RSS feed
Previous Episode: The Eye of the Beholder
Next Episode: City of the Big Shoulders
At its peak around 1200 CE, the ancient Mississippian settlement of Cahokia stretched nearly six square miles, from what is now East St. Louis, Missouri, to Collinsville, Illinois, and included around 120 man-made earthen mounds. It was as large, or larger, than any European city of that time, but can we fairly or accurately call Cahokia a city? John Kelly, senior lecturer of archaeology at Washington University in St. Louis, discusses the limitations of imposing the Western concept of "cities" on ancient sites and describes the mound culture of Mississippian Native American clans. Today, Cahokia Mounds is still considered the largest and most complex Pre-Columbian archaeological site north of Mexico.