Cahokia's Monks Mound rising

1060

On the Mississippi floodplain, thousands of labor-gangs were hauling baskets of earth to raise the great platform mound that would eventually stand a hundred feet tall with a base larger than the Great Pyramid. The leaders of Cahokia commanded labor on a scale unmatched anywhere north of Mesoamerica. Atop the mound stood the chief's wooden residence, overlooking a grand plaza where thousands gathered for ceremonies.