This article was accepted into the corpus but its outbound wikilinks were never NER-processed — typical at the deepest BFS hop or when the run's entity cap was reached. No expansion funnel to show.
| Mound 72 | |
|---|---|
| Name | Mound 72 |
| Location | St. Louis County, Missouri |
| Type | Pre-Columbian burial mound |
| Built | c. 900–1250 CE |
| Culture | Mississippian culture |
| Excavations | British Museum-era studies; Harvard University fieldwork; Washington University in St. Louis investigations |
Mound 72 is a prehistoric burial and platform mound complex located at Cahokia Mounds State Historic Site near Collinsville, Illinois, within the American Bottom floodplain of the Mississippi River. The site is associated with the regional expressions of the Mississippian culture and is notable for its elaborate stratigraphy, rich mortuary record, and distinctive grave goods that illuminate connections with other polities such as Etowah, Moundville, Spiro Mounds, and the broader network of Late Woodland and Mississippian communities. Archaeological investigations have produced significant datasets referenced by institutions including the Smithsonian Institution, University of Illinois Urbana–Champaign, and Field Museum of Natural History.
Mound 72 occupies a strategic position near the plaza and central precinct of Cahokia Mounds State Historic Site, adjacent to features like Monks Mound, Woodhenge, and the Cahokia palisade. The mound complex comprises multiple depositional cells, burnt structures, and a famous charnel deposit that has been compared to elite burials at Ocmulgee, Etowah, and Moundville Archaeological Park. Interpretations link Mound 72 to ritual practices attested in ethnohistoric accounts involving societies such as the Choctaw and Chickasaw, and to regional interaction spheres documented in artifacts from sources like Appalachia and the Gulf Coast.
Excavations at the site were conducted in phases by teams from institutions including University of Illinois, Washington University in St. Louis, Harvard University, and the Peoria Academy of Science, with oversight by state agencies such as the Illinois Historic Preservation Agency. Early systematic trenching and stratigraphic recording followed methodologies promoted by archaeologists from the Smithsonian Institution and parallels with field programs at Fort Ancient, Etowah Indian Mounds, and Spiro Mounds. Laboratory analyses included osteology by specialists affiliated with National Museum of Natural History and material sourcing using protocols developed at Illinois State Museum and Center for Archaeological Investigations.
The mound contains multiple interments, including a central suite of elite burials with cranial modification and complex grave associations reminiscent of practices recorded among the Hoisin-period assemblages at Etowah and iconography paralleling motifs from Poverty Point. Osteobiographical studies comparing remains with collections at Field Museum of Natural History and Peabody Museum have documented dietary isotopes, trauma patterns, and demographic profiles consistent with both local and nonlocal origins similar to those traced at Moundville and Spirits Mound. Distinctive features include arranged burials with shell collars, copper objects, and sacrificial interments that echo episodes described in ethnohistoric narratives collected by Lewis and Clark-era chroniclers and later observers from Bureau of American Ethnology records.
Excavations yielded rich artifacts: copper plates and sheets with repoussé imagery comparable to finds at Etowah, shell gorgets and beads sourced from Gulf Coast shell beds, and finely crafted chunkey stones similar to game artifacts documented in collections at Pitt Rivers Museum and Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology. Ceramic assemblages display typologies akin to those defined in sequence charts from Mississippi Archaeological Research Center and include painted and incised wares comparable with assemblages at Ocmulgee National Monument. Nonlocal goods indicate exchange with regions such as Ozark Plateau, Tennessee River Valley, and the Ohio River Valley, paralleling trade networks documented in studies by American Antiquity contributors and researchers affiliated with University of Tennessee.
Stratigraphic analysis and radiocarbon dating sequences align mound construction and primary use with the Late Woodland to Mississippian transition (c. 9th–13th centuries CE), corresponding to chronological frameworks developed at Mississippi State University and the Cahokia Alluvial Plain research programs. Phased construction shows planned deposits, burn layers, and successive building episodes similar to sequence models applied at Monks Mound and Woodhenge. Chronometric data have been integrated into regional models assembled by scholars from University of Wisconsin–Madison, Southern Illinois University, and the Peoria River Valley Project.
Scholars interpret the mound as an elite mortuary and ritual locus that reflects social stratification, cosmological ideology, and long-distance exchange networks akin to hierarchical centers such as Etowah and Moundville Archaeological Park. The assemblage has informed debates about Mississippian chiefdoms, human sacrifice practices, and seasonal or ceremonial calendrical events comparable to inferences drawn at Poverty Point and Ocmulgee. Comparative studies by researchers at Harvard University and University of Michigan situate the site within pan-regional religious landscapes and political economies documented across Eastern Woodlands cultures.
Mound 72 falls under protection by Cahokia Mounds State Historic Site management and agencies including the Illinois Historic Preservation Agency and coordination with the National Park Service via adjacent heritage programs. Materials from the site are curated in repositories such as the Field Museum, Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology, and Illinois State Museum with select artifacts exhibited alongside interpretive displays about Cahokia and the Mississippian world. Ongoing conservation, public archaeology initiatives, and education partnerships involve institutions like Southern Illinois University Carbondale and community stakeholders including the City of Collinsville and regional Native American groups.
Category:Archaeological sites in Illinois Category:Mississippian culture