Research suggests Aztalan (~500 people) was a Mississippian colony linked to Cahokia. Around 1050 CE, Cahokia rebuilt itself as a major city with trade networks stretching from Oklahoma to Georgia. Long-nose ear ornaments found at Aztalan match those from Cahokia and Spiro, hinting at direct cultural ties 🏺
Evidence linking Aztalan to Cahokia as a Mississippian colony
Site mentioned
📍 Aztalan
Key facts
- Aztalan housed approximately 500 people within its walls, far smaller than other Mississippian cities
- Cahokia underwent a major transformation around 1050 CE, razing its former town to build a full city
- Cahokia established a trade network stretching from Oklahoma to Georgia and from the Gulf of Mexico to the Great Lakes
- Aztalan began as a Late Woodland village around 900 CE before Mississippian ceramics and SECC iconography appeared in the mid-1000s
- Cahokia-origin artifacts found at Aztalan include long-nose ear ornaments, also found at Spiro but rarely elsewhere
- Copper artifacts at Aztalan came from Upper Michigan, north of the site
- Aztalan sits on the Crawfish River, a direct tributary of the Mississippi River
- The palisade wall, rectangular houses, and earthen platforms were built simultaneously with a master plan, unlike local Late Woodland architecture
Sources
Aztalan State Parkwisconsinfirstnations.org
The Mississippians settled alongside the Late Woodland residents of Aztalan, built earthen platform mounds, and fortified the site with a huge ...
History | Aztalan State Park - Wisconsin DNRdnr.wisconsin.gov
Between 1050 and 1100, people from the great Mississippian civilization in southern Illinois established a fortified town, living with local Woodland people
Ancient Cahokia and the Mississippian Culturemythicmississippi.illinois.edu
Cahokia was the capital of a great “Mississippian” civilization. Cahokia was a dynamic urban center with large-scale cultural influence. That influence is ...
Cahokiaen.wikipedia.org
Cahokia was the largest and most influential urban settlement of the Mississippian culture, beginning around 1000 AD.
Cahokia: A Pre-Columbian American Citygilderlehrman.org
The sites of Aztalan and Trempealeau, Wisconsin, for instance, were set up by or with Cahokians. Trempealeau is located over 500 miles to the north in a ...
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