trade

Trade and Social Inequality Kristen Braun

Cahokia was part of the Mississippian cultural period in the American Bottom region of the Mississippi River valley. This period is characterized by maize agriculture and participation the Southeastern Ceremonial Complex (SECC). The SECC was a widespread ideology, encompassing the entire southeast, including Cahokia. It is characterized by its monumental architecture in the form of huge flat-topped and conical mounds, as well as its distinctive motifs and symbols. Snakes are commonly found symbols, as are eyes, circles with crosses in the center, and birds of prey. Falcons are popular; in fact, important people are often shown as hawks: a human body with two wings beneath the arms and a fanned tail behind the legs. These figures are elaborately decorated and usually carry a club or another symbol of a warrior. The ceremonial game of chunkey, performed with disc-like stones, also played an important role within the SECC.

Located in present-day southern Illinois, the site of Cahokia was a thriving metropolis, home to thousands of Native Americans at its peak. To support its population, the prehistoric city drew on sophisticated trade networks stretching as far north as the Great Lakes and south to the Gulf of Mexico. Mississippian archaeologist John Kelly says Cahokia’s location at the northern boundary of the American Bottom made it a gateway center for trade (2000). Goods from both the north and south were brought to Cahokia and distributed to other sites throughout the Mississippian world. These sophisticated trade networks that supplied the southeast created social inequality throughout the American Bottom as evidenced by Cahokia’s archaeological record.


 * Trade Items Found at Cahokia **
 * Copper **

Copper found at Cahokia originated near the Great Lakes. The Lake Superior region in northern Wisconsin and Keweenaw Peninsula in Michigan contained rich copper deposits (Brown 2004). The copper made its way over 800 kilometers from northern Wisconsin to the site of Cahokia and was then traded to the south and west. Copper was used to make ceremonial objects using the SECC style and motifs. Among these were ceremonial masks. The masks are called “long nosed god masks” and were used by religious officials during important rituals (Brown and Kelly 2000). Most marine shell came from the coast of the Gulf of Mexico to the south, about 900 kilometers away. Shell-working areas within Cahokia have been identified where expert craftsmen would make beads and other finished products out of raw shell. Archaeologists know this because they have found high concentrations of marine shell along side micro-drills, which were used to form the shells into beads (Kelly 1991). This shell is the most common artifact found in burials at Cahokia. Brown and Kelly state that “…elite graves contained large amounts of marine shell, with certain burials having a disproportionate amount” (2000:480). Throughout the American Bottom, great numbers of shell beads are found in high status graves. Along with beads, Mississippian columella pendants and shell cups, both made of whelk shell, were manufactured at Cahokia. The pendants are commonly depicted as badges of status worn around the necks of warriors and important figures. They are seen on engraved shell as well as copper artifacts. These pendants have been found in elite burials at many Mississippian mound complexes similar to Cahokia (Brown and Kelly 2000). The shell cups were most likely used in the black drink ceremony which was a purification ritual practiced throughout the southeast. Participants drank a potent brew of roasted holly leaves which caused them to vomit. The ceremony was performed by high status warriors before important community events.
 * Shell & Marine Goods **

Other imported marine resources found at Cahokia include shell gorgets, engraved or incised shells, and even shark’s teeth. ** Chert **

Used to make projectile points, chert was imported from many different areas surrounding Cahokia. Points from separate locations, made of varying stones in different colors, are often found together in large caches with high status burials. There are several other goods that were also brought to Cahokia. From Missouri was red flint clay used to sculpt figurines. Yellow ochre and galena were brought from the Ozarks, about 200 kilometers away. Finally, mica was imported to Cahokia from the Appalachian Mountains, over 600 kilometers away.
 * Other Goods **


 * Evidence for Inequality: Mounds **
 * Mound 34 **

A club found at Mound 34 contained eight exotic chert effigy shark’s teeth and five real shark’s teeth. Along with the club, there were several fragments of engraved shell, and a cache of six whelk shells (Kelly, et al 2007). This shows two different trade routes coming together at Cahokia, both shell and chert, having originated in separate networks, traveled hundreds of miles to the ancient city.

Mound 34 also contains several copper workshops. In there areas, raw copper was hammered and manipulated by skilled laborers. It was turned into finished goods that could be exported or used by Cahokia’s elite residents (Kelly, et al 2007). A small unassuming mound, called Mound 72, is located just south of Monk’s Mound, the largest and most impressive of Cahokia’s earthworks. Walking past Mound 72, hardly anyone would take notice because it is surrounded by much larger earthworks. It is not a very impressive mound from the outside; in fact, it stands only two meters high (Fowler 1989). What lay within the mound, however was one of the richest archaeological sites at Cahokia. When excavation began it was quickly discovered that mound 72 was very important despite its small size. Over 250 burials were found within the mound. Some of them are elite individuals while others are sacrifices. Fowler notes that all of these burials took place over a short 100 year time span and the elite individuals were probably part of the same family line (Young and Fowler 2000). One of the most prestigious burials, named “the birdman,” made significant news, both inside and outside the archaeology world. The excavation was carried out, and material goods were interpreted by Fowler in the 1970s. The birdman burial shows the wealth contained within the elite class. He was buried with over 20,000 shell disc beads which formed a falcon behind him. The beads were probably strung together and put onto some kind of mortuary garment or blanket which has since decayed (Brown and Kelly 2000).
 * Mound 72 **

Contrasting with the birdman burial, who was buried with great care, are the burials with multiple individuals. These were found a short distance form the prestigious birdman. Fowler excavated three multiple-burials and over 50 bodies were discovered between them. The deepest skeletons were lined up next to each other and then a second row was placed on top of the first. Fowler discovered that all of the remains belonged to females between 18 and 23 years old when they died. Though it is possible that they all died of natural causes, it is highly unlikely. According to Fowler, this was probably a sacrifice to the beaded birdman (Young and Fowler 2000).

Fowler notes another burial that was probably also a sacrifice to the birdman. In this case four men were found without heads. The men’s hands were also cut off before they died. Also present in Mound 72 is a disarticulated individual who had thousands of prestigious trade objects in the strata above his grave. In the layers above the remains, Fowler and his team discovered over 36,000 shell disc beads along with “455 projectile points, 700 antler harpoons and bone points (two of which were copper covered), and six pottery vessels” (Brown and Kelly 2000: 480). Brown and Kelly say that the disarticulated remains were probably not from a member of Cahokia’s elite, but rather a part of a sacrifice to an important figure.

Mound 72 contained many other finds full of valuable information. Among these were caches of projectile points made from chert originating in Oklahoma, Arkansas, Missouri, Illinois, Wisconsin, and Tennessee (William R. Iseminger, personal communication). There are hundreds of the points deliberately grouped and buried together.

Also found in Mound 72 was an earspool made from imported red flint clay. Mississippian leaders and those of high status are usually depicted wearing these types of adornments. William Iseminger, the assistant site director at Cahokia says that, along with earspools, this clay was “also used to make most figurines found at Cahokia and other sites throughout the Mississippian world--probably made [at Cahokia] and exported out to these other sites” ( personal communication). These figurines usually represent farming, and were often used in agricultural ceremonies (Power 2004). Another important discovery of traded goods from Mound 72 came from a burial containing several disarticulated individuals and one elite individual. Placed with the multiple bodies were shell disc beads, raw mica, a cache of chunkey stones, and a roll of copper (Fowler 1991). “ The copper roll…is apparently Lake Superior copper. It appears to be copper nuggets coldhammered into sheets rolled around a wooden shaft (decayed). It may have been a symbol of authority for the deceased leader found nearby” (William R. Iseminger, personal communication). In historic times, Cahokia was used as horseradish farmland. It was routinely plowed and planted. The owners even destroyed some of the smaller mounds (Young and Fowler 2000). Because of this, some of the artifacts recovered at Cahokia have no context. One such piece is the Ramey Shell Gorget, which shows definite ties to the SECC. The circular piece has a small cross in the center. It was recovered from the land between Mound 34 and Mound 17. Another shell gorget was found within Mound 17 around the neck of an individual. It is also decorated in the typical SECC style. Also found with the burial were a bone knife, a jar, and a whelk effigy vessel (Brown and Kelly 2000).
 * [[image:RameyShellGorget_edited400dpi_2.JPG width="227" height="236" align="right" caption="Figure 9: Ramey Shell Gorget"]]Other Sites **

At Roundtop Mound (Mound 59), a small copper snake figure was found with a burial. George Milner notes that this figurine was missing its proximal end and lying across the chest of the individual in the grave (1984). This discovery shows clear SECC influences in a burial of an individual of a higher status.

The rich archaeological record at Cahokia presents significant evidence for inequality. One way this inequality can be examined is through the analysis of trade goods. Things like copper, shell, chert, and exotic stones came from as for as 900 kilometers away. Cahokia was home to manufacturing centers where raw goods were transformed into prestige goods. These items are commonly found in burials. The presence of these prestige objects indicates the existence of an elite class. Evidence for this comes primarily from the many burials excavated at Mound 72, but is also found in other mounds throughout the site.
 * Conclusion **

Sources ** Brown, James and John Kelly. 2000 Cahokia and the Southeastern Ceremonial Complex. In //Mounds, Modoc. and Mesoamerica: Papers in Honor of Melvin L. Fowler//, edited by S.R. Alher pp. 469 – 510. Illinois State Museum Scientific Papers, Springfield. Fowler, Melvin. 1989 //The Cahokia Atlas: A Historical Atlas of Cahokia Archaeology.//  Illinois Historic Preservation Agency, Springfield. Fowler, Melvin. 1991 Mound 72 and Early Mississippian at Cahokia. In //New Perspectives on Cahokia: Views from the Periphery//, edited by James B. Stoltman, pp. 1 – 28. Prehistory Press, Madison.

Kelly, John E. 1991 The Evidence for Prehistoric Exchange and Its Implications for the Development of Cahokia. In // New Perspectives on Cahokia: Views from the Periphery //, edited by James B. Stoltman, pp. 65 – 92. Prehistory Press, Madison Kelly, John E. 2000 Cahokia and Its Role as a Gateway Center in Interregional Exchange. In // Cahokia and the Hinterland: Middle Mississippian Cultures of the Midwest //, edited by Thomas E. Emerson and R. Barry Lewis, pp. 61 – 80. University of Illinois Press, Chicago Kelly, John E., James A. Brown, Jenna M. Hamlin, Lucretia S. Kelly, Laura Kozuch, Kathryn Parker, and Julieann Van Nest. 2007 Mound 34: The Context for the Early Evidence of the Southeastern Ceremonial Complex at Cahokia. In //Southeastern Ceremonial Complex: Chronology, Content, Context//, edited by Adam King, pp. 57 – 87. University of Alabama Press, Tuscaloosa.

Milner, George R. 1984 Social and Temporal Implications of Variation Among American Bottom Mississippian Cemeteries. In //American Antiquity// 3:468 – 488.

Power, Susan C. 2004 // Early Art of the Southeastern Indians: Feathered Serpents & Winged Beings //. Athens, University of Georgia Press. Young, Biloine and Melvin Fowler // 2000 Cahokia: The Great Native American Metropolis //. University of Illinois Press, Urbana.

Figures 3, 4, 5, 8, and 9 courtesy William R. Iseminger, Cahokia Mounds State Historic Site, Collinsville, IL