An ancient Native American settlement and ceremonial center near present-day St. Louis, home to the Mississippian culture around 1100 CE.
From the Cahokia people, a Mississippian culture group. The name likely derives from a Choctaw or Chickasaw word, though the original meaning is debated. The site became famous in the 18th-19th centuries when European Americans discovered its massive earthen mounds.
Cahokia was once larger than London—at its peak around 1100 CE, it had 10,000-20,000 residents, making it the biggest city north of Mexico until after the American Civil War! The mysterious reason people abandoned it remains one of archaeology's great unsolved puzzles.
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