The analysis of environmental samples from across the site — pollen, phytoliths, seeds, charcoal, and the chemical signatures of various human and animal activities preserved in the soil — is producing a dynamic picture of how the landscape was managed and transformed over the course of the city’s history.

This environmental archaeology is revealing not just what was there but how it changed — how the forest cover around the site was modified, how agricultural practices evolved, and how the cumulative effects of the city’s occupation transformed the landscape in ways that had long-term consequences.

Isotopic studies of human remains from Cahokia continue to expand, with larger sample sizes and improved analytical techniques producing more nuanced pictures of who lived at the city, where they came from, and how their diets and health changed over time.

The patterns emerging from this work suggest significant social differentiation in access to food — with high-status individuals showing dietary signatures distinct from those of lower-status populations — as well as evidence of the geographic diversity of the population that has been mentioned earlier.