Good Family Trips
Cahokia is 190 miles from Elmwood. Cahokia was the center city of a far flung culture. The museum itself has illustrative exhibits of life in Cahokia. The mounds are very impressive when you consider they were constructed one seventy pound pack of dirt at a time. The placement of the mounds is strictly geometric some mounds were discovered estimating vertices from known mound locations. Excavations have discovered what is called woodhenge a calendar of wooden poles.
The multimedia presentation is nice. I do not know if it has changed, since our visit six years ago. Discoveries are being made every year and although much is known many questions remain with out explanation. Mound building cultures still existed when Spanish explorers tromped through Alabama. Cahokia ceased to exist long before European explorations. The Cahokia population peaked about 1200 AD. Cahokia itself had a population of 15,000 and the connected communities are estimated to bring this city to about 40,000. Compare this population with the early United States whose largest city, Philadelphia, first exceeded 40,000 in 1800.
Cahokia near St Louis can be a trip that also includes a Cardinal baseball game, zoo visit, science center, or a play; Mary Poppins will be in St Louis August 13th through August 30th. Also a new Lewis and Clark Museum is very near Cahokia Mounds...
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