Time: 4:00 - 5:15 pm
Recent Archaeological Research in Cahokia's West Plaza
Davide Domenici
Department of History and Cultures (Dipartimento di Storia Culture Civiltà)
University of Bologna
Abstract This talk presents the results of a recent archaeological project, organized jointly by the University of Bologna (Italy) and Washington University in St. Louis, located in the so-called Merrell Tract. The tract is an area within one of the four plazas which defined the epicenter of the Mississippian city of Cahokia, in Illinois. The excavation, expanding an area investigated in 1960 during a salvage archeological project, brought to light evidence of human occupation dating from pre-Cahokian, Emergent Mississippian times (10th century AD) to the Late Mississippian Moorehead and Sand Prairie phases (14th century), thus spanning the entire Cahokian sequence. The recovered evidence witnesses changing settlement dynamics that reflect the whole trajectory of Cahokia's history, from its birth to ultimate demise.
Light refreshments will be provided!