The Palisade and What It Protected

The wooden palisade that enclosed Cahokia’s central precinct is one of the most evocative features of the city’s archaeological record, in part because the palisade itself is gone — only the evidence of where it stood remains — and in part because its existence raises questions about the city’s social and political character that the evidence does not fully resolve.

The palisade was a substantial structure.

The post holes that mark its former position show that the timbers that formed it were large — mature trees, carefully selected, cut, transported, and set.