Cahokia Mounds State Historic Site's five-mile palisade walls defended main plaza with bastions and guard towers. Cahokia Mounds State Historic Site had palisade walls surrounding the main plaza Estimates suggest each wall was approximately five miles long Four separate palisades encircled the site, built one outside the other
Cahokia's defensive system featured a central palisade wall roughly two miles long, rebuilt in four successive phases, encircling the main ceremonial precinct. Bastions spaced along the walls served as elevated guard positions, while the log walls themselves were anchored in post pits. Archaeologists have noted the sophisticated construction of this Mississippian-era settlement.
Key Facts
- Cahokia Mounds State Historic Site had palisade walls surrounding the main plaza
- Estimates suggest each wall was approximately five miles long
- Four separate palisades encircled the site, built one outside the other
- Bastions or guard towers equally spaced around the palisade walls for elevated defense positions
- Walls made of logs embedded in post pits at least four feet deep in the earth
- Defensive system compared to medieval European fortification design
Related site: Cahokia Mounds State Historic Site — view location, images, and history on the Ancient Nerds map.
Source: The Roundtable Chronicles - Ep. 26 by Institute for Natural Philosophy