View from the top of Monks Mound at the Cahokia Mounds UNESCO World Heritage Site with downtown Saint Louis and Gateway Arch in the far distance

View from the top of Monks Mound at the Cahokia Mounds UNESCO World Heritage Site towards the pallisades

Cahokia Mounds State Historic Site

Schematic line drawing of the Cahokia Mounds State Historic Site

Two flights of stairs going up Monks Mound at the Cahokia Mounds UNESCO World Heritage Site near Collinsville, Illinois

Monks Mound at the Cahokia Mounds UNESCO World Heritage Site near Collinsville, Illinois

Large Oak Tree at the Cahokia Mounds State Historic Site

There are pyramids in Illinois!

Monks Mound, the largest mound at the Cahokia Mounds is the largest Pre-Columbian earthwork in the Americas and the largest pyramid north of Mesoamerica.

Palisades of the stockade at Cahokia Mounds State Historic Site

View from Monks Mound at some palisades of the stockade at Cahokia Mounds State Historic Site, a UNESCO World Heritage Site near Collinsville, Illinois

Monks Mound at the Cahokia Mounds UNESCO World Heritage Site near Collinsville, Illinois

The Twin Mounds, also know as #59 and #60 at the Cahokia Mounds State Historic Site in Collinsville, Illinois

One of the Twin Mounds at the Cahokia Mounds State Historic Site in Collinsville, Illinois

The Twin Mounds, also know as #59 and #60 at the Cahokia Mounds State Historic Site in Collinsville, Illinois

Mound 48 at the Cahokia Mounds UNESCO World Heritage Site near Collinsville, Illinois

The stockade at the Cahokia Mounds UNESCO World Heritage Site near Collinsville, Illinois

Monks Mound at the Cahokia Mounds UNESCO World Heritage Site near Collinsville, Illinois

The central ceremonial precinct of Cahokia was enclosed by a defensive wall, the Stockade (or Palisade). It was built of upright logs placed in 4-5 foot deep trenches and probably stood 10-15 feet high above the ground.

Palisades at the Cahokia Mounds UNESCO World Heritage Site near Collinsville, Illinois

Inside the stockade at the Cahokia Mounds UNESCO World Heritage Site near Collinsville, Illinois

Monks Mound at the Cahokia Mounds UNESCO World Heritage Site near Collinsville, Illinois

Monks Mound at the Cahokia Mounds State Historic Site

Monks Mound at the Cahokia Mounds State Historic Site, a Native American UNESCO World Heritage Site near Collinsville, Illinois

Woodhenge in Illinois - A prehistoric solar calendar

Woodhenge in Illinois - A prehistoric solar calendar at the Cahokia Mounds UNESCO World Heritage Site near Collinsville, Illinois