A third possibility is that the palisade served both functions simultaneously: it demarcated the central precinct as a space of special ritual and political significance, and it also provided some defensive capability.

In many cultures, the boundary between sacred space and defensive fortification is not a sharp one.

Whatever its primary function, the palisade is evidence of something important: the city’s core was enclosed, bounded, and separated from the rest of the urban landscape.

Access to the inner city was controlled.

The physical definition of the space in which political and religious authority was concentrated was a deliberate architectural choice.

This speaks to the nature of the political system that governed Cahokia.