An Archaeological Model of the Construction of Monks Mound and Implications for the Development of the Cahokian Society (800 - 1400 A.D.)

Monks Mound at Cahokia, constructed as a discrete and definable event, served as a ritual vehicle to integrate a large population within the Cahokian society. This study challenges prior models that emphasized individual power accumulation and domination, instead proposing a system with both achieved and ascribed statuses mediated by a worldview of balance and integration. By analyzing stratigraphic and chronometric data, the research suggests that this structural organization may have precluded class conflict while enabling the development of large-scale societies in response to population growth.

Schilling, T. (2010). An Archaeological Model of the Construction of Monks Mound and Implications for the Development of the Cahokian Society (800 - 1400 A.D.). Washington University in St. Louis. https://doi.org/10.7936/K7M043CH