Cahokia Reaches Peak Population

Located across the Mississippi River from present-day St. Louis, Cahokia grew from roughly 1,400 people to between 10,200 and 15,300 during the Lohmann phase (1050-1100 CE). The Mississippian settlement covered six square miles and contained approximately 120 earthen mounds, including Monks Mound, a 100-foot-tall platform larger in base area than the Pyramid at Giza. The city served as the political and ceremonial center of a network extending across the central Mississippi valley.