Beginning of the End of Ancient Culture of Cahokia

Epic Fire Marked ‘Beginning of the End’ for Ancient Culture of Cahokia, New Digs Suggest

Excavations in the Midwest have turned up evidence of a massive ancient fire that likely marked “the beginning of the end” for what was once ancient America’s largest city, archeologists say.  The digs took place in southern Illinois, just meters away from the interstate highways that carve their way through and around modern-day St. Louis. But 900 years ago, this was the heart of Greater Cahokia, a civilization whose trade routes and religious influence stretched from the Great Lakes to the Deep South, and whose culture shaped the lifeways of the Plains and Southern Indians.  Here, researchers with the Illinois State Archeological Survey have discovered a widespread layer of charcoal and burned artifacts among the foundations of ancient structures — Read more.