Events of Monday, August 23, 2010

 

          It was hard to leave St. Louis, but after four days it was time to move on. (Perhaps it was just hard to leave the St. Louis RV Park’s swimming pool which made the incredible humidity bearable.) As I drove over the Mississippi River Ben waited until just the half way point before shouting, “Goodbye Missouri and Hello Illinois!” We were off to see the Cahokia Mounds in Collinsville, Illinois. This is a State Historic Site, a National Historic Landmark AND a World Heritage Site.

          The Cahokia Mounds are the largest prehistoric Indian site in the United States, covering 4000 acres and including over 120 mounds. 2200 acres and 70 of the remaining 80 mounds are part of this site. What is unique about these mounds is that they were made of earth dug from “borrow pits” with stone and wood tools and transported in baskets on people’s backs. It is estimated that over 50 million cubic feet of earth was moved for mound construction alone. As we entered the visitor center we were greeted by a volunteer who shared that at 10:30 there would be an introductory film or we could join him on an hour long tour of the mounds. We opted for the personal tour and enjoyed it very much especially since our tour guide preferred to speak only when we stood in the shade and there was a nice breeze to fight the heat and humidity. We learned that the Cahokia Mounds are named for the Cahokia Indians who dwelt in the area after the mound-makers did and the name sort of stuck. The Indians who actually built the mounds were part of a pre-historic Mississippian culture. Upon learning that these Mississippians did not have a system for writing, Ben quickly pointed out that they cannot be considered a civilization. As he has learned in his summer work for AP World History, a system for writing and passing down information is necessary to define something as a civilization. So he would support the classification of the Mississippians as a culture, but pointed out each error in referring to them as a civilization.  

          After the tour we viewed the introductory film and learned more about these people and their lifestyle. Abby was amazed to learn that, like several ancient civilizations that she has studied, these Mississippians, once they had produced a surplus of food, in this case corn, developed a differentiation of roles and artisans began to specialize in making tools or arrowheads or weaving baskets or making pottery. Evidence was found in the mounds that the Mississippians traded with others from far and wide, as there was copper which would have come from the Great Lakes areas and shells that had to come from the coastal areas. After the movie we started to explore the museum, but soon realized it was lunch time and there was too much to see. So we went out to the RV, cranked up the A/C and enjoyed lunch. After lunch we explored the museum further. It was quite well done. In addition to numerous displays describing how these 200,000 occupants of the mounds and the lands organized themselves and how the hierarchy worked; there was a replica of an actual village based on information gathered from the archeological digs in the area. Life size models demonstrated what family life would have been like in a typical Mississippian village. We were all very impressed.

          After leaving the visitor center, we drove across the street to explore Monks Mound, so named for the French Trappist Monks who dwelt there in the early 1800s. Monks Mound is the largest prehistoric earthen construction in the Americas. In all likelihood, a massive structure once stood at the summit as the dwelling place for the principal chief of the region. The Monks Mound is made up of four terraces and rises 100 feet in the air. There are 154 steps leading to the summit, and it was up those 154 steps that the Traveling Taylors trekked in the heat of the day. The view from the top was worth it though, because you could see the St. Louis Arch in the distance. Then we were off to visit Woodhenge. We have visited Car-henge (in Nebraska) on this trip and plan to visit Stonehenge when we get to Europe, so Woodhenge was not to be missed. Woodhenge is the third largest of five circular sun calendars excavated by the archeologists and reproduced by the site. It has 48 red cedar posts, equally spaced to align certain posts with the Spring or Fall Equinox and Summer or Winter Solstice.  It is an impressive example of science and engineering which Jim found very frustrating to try to capture on film.

          Now completely wilted from the heat and humidity, we fired up Harvey’s A/C and headed off to Springfield, Illinois. Upon arriving at the Riverside Campground, we found a nice shady spot by the river. We leveled off, put out the slide-outs, caught up on emails and blogs, and fixed dinner. Poor Abby had a plate of hot spaghetti served directly on to her lap, but after giving her some ice for her hands and cleaning up the mess, we were able to enjoy our dinner. After dinner it was time to give Jim and Ben haircuts. Lindsey, given her ambition to become a beautician to pay her way through college, had her first experience with cutting her brother’s hair. It went fairly well, but it didn’t help matters that he was slapping away mosquitoes while she was trying to even up his sideburns. He’ll just have to walk with his headed tilted a little to the left this next week. Then it was off to shower in some of the shortest and most frustrating showers of the trip. See Caitlin’s shower blog for a full description of the hilarity. Tomorrow we will explore all things Lincoln and I can’t wait.