Silkworm cocoons at Monks Mound awaiting radiocarbon dating. Silkworm cocoons were found at Monks Mound (Cahokia) by Sutter in 1920 and donated to the Madison County History Museum Thomas Remy owned Monks Mound from 1860 to 1880 and preserved artifacts The silkworm cocoons are from a collection of approximately 3,000 items including arrowheads and pottery
Silkworm cocoons were discovered at Cahokia's Monks Mound by Sutter in 1920, now sitting in the Madison County History Museum alongside roughly 3,000 other artifacts. This challenges mainstream archaeology's claim that no silk culture existed in America before the French arrived in 1700. Mulberry trees (silkworm food) have been documented at the site and are indigenous to North America. A single cocoon contains a continuous 1,500-meter silk filament. Radiocarbon dating via AMS costs $675 per test, while amino acid racemization testing runs $3,500 for 10 samples. The cocoons remain undated.
Key Facts
- Silkworm cocoons were found at Monks Mound (Cahokia) by Sutter in 1920 and donated to the Madison County History Museum
- Thomas Remy owned Monks Mound from 1860 to 1880 and preserved artifacts
- The silkworm cocoons are from a collection of approximately 3,000 items including arrowheads and pottery
- Radiocarbon testing costs $675 per AMS test requiring only 30 micrograms (one 10,000th of a cocoon)
- Amino acid racemization testing costs $3,500 for 10 samples and can determine age by comparing R/L ratios (0.15 for 5,000-year-old samples vs 0.005 for new samples)
- A single silkworm cocoon contains a continuous 1,500-meter silk filament
- Mainstream archaeology claims no silk culture existed in America before the French in 1700
- Mulberry trees (silkworm food) were documented on site and are indigenous to North America
Related site: Cahokia Mounds State Historic Site — view location, images, and history on the Ancient Nerds map.
Source: The Roundtable Chronicles - Ep-15 by Institute for Natural Philosophy