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Monks Mound in Illinois is the largest-known prehistoric earthwork in the Western Hemisphere. Definition of burial mound : a mound erected over the dead especially : one constructed by the Indian Mound Builders of North America. The most extensive terrace, the first, extends across the southern end of Monks Mound. Four additional circles surfaced later. New York: Macmillan. I'm Cary Hardy, an education expert and consultant. Within other sub-mounds in Mound 72, researchers discovered numerous sacrificial victims and other individuals that suffered violent deaths. This technique was opposed by professional archaeologists because it destroyed several hundred years of stratification over most of the mound's summit, which was the evidence by which they could place and evaluate artifacts and construction. European settlers also claimed the land and Monks Mound got its name from the Monks that made their gardens on top of the mounds. 2009-2021 Historic Mysteries. Enlightenment-inspired scholars and some of Americas Founders viewed Indians as the first Americans, to be used as models by the new republic in the creation of its own legacy and national identity. The River L'Abbe Mission served a small Illiniwek community, until they were forced to abandon the area by rival tribes about 1752. White Settlers Buried the Truth About the Midwest's Mysterious Mound The largest mound at Cahokia was Monks Mound, a four-terraced platform mound about 100 feet high that served as the city's central point. Mound Builders Facts: Learn About These Prehistoric People Monks Mound is truly massive; it is roughly the same size at its base as the Great Pyramid of Giza; 13.1 acres / 5.3 hectares. Mounds were typically flat-topped earthen pyramids used as platforms for religious buildings, residences of leaders and priests, and locations for public rituals. He built a house on the upper terrace, and sank a well. All maps and reconstructions of the mound illustrate four terraces or levels ; the first terrace is the lowest and the fourth the highest. The beginning of its construction dates from 900 to 955 CE. Drains were installed to reduce the effects of heavy rain. It overlooked the Grand Plaza surrounded by the stockade. up until the time of the Spanish conquest in the early 16th century. Facing south, it is 92 feet high, 951 feet long and 836 feet wide. This alignment, according to Tim Pauketat, professor of anthropology at the University of Illinois, is tied to the summer solstice sunrise and the southern maximum moonrise, orientating Cahokia to the movement of both the sun and the moon.