The combination of these knowledge systems produces a richer understanding of Cahokia than either alone could achieve.

The New Archaeology and What It Is Finding

Archaeological research at Cahokia is ongoing, and the pace of discovery has not slowed even as the site has been studied for more than a century.

Several lines of current investigation are producing results that will substantially revise the existing understanding of the city in coming years.

The application of LiDAR survey across the broader Cahokia landscape — not just the protected core but the surrounding area where the city’s outer residential zones and satellite communities extended — has revealed a more extensive urban landscape than previous mapping had established.

Features visible in the LiDAR data but not previously recognized as archaeological include possible mound remnants, linear earthworks that may have been boundaries or drainage features, and traces of the organized settlement patterns that characterized the outer zones of the city.