Cahokia Heights must make $30 million in fixes to its sanitary sewer system after the Metro East city failed to maintain it, according to a newly proposed settlement from the federal government and state
The work will need to be completed or planned by 2035
Department of Justice and the state will also require the city to pay a $30,000 penalty under the proposal
which has been in negotiations for a couple of years
The complaint against Cahokia Heights alleges the city discharged sewer water into nearby waters more than 300 times since November 2019 — which is a violation of the Clean Water Act
The city also released untreated sewage that ran into homes
ditches and roads throughout the community
“Cahokia Heights failed to maintain its aging sewer system
resulting in hundreds of illegal sanitary sewer overflow discharges that created public health risks and contaminated homes and the environment,” said David Uhlmann
with the EPA’s Office of Enforcement and Compliance Assurance
Discharges of raw sewage and sewer overflows carry bacteria
An ongoing health study found residents have been exposed to bacteria and parasites from sewage backups and flooding
More than 40% of adults had the same stomach infection from a bacteria called H
A proposed consent decree would require the city to reduce the number of sanitary overflows from its sewer system by evaluating the condition and capacity of the system — and implementing measures that will require frequent cleaning and repairs to the system
the city will be required to clean the entire sewer system and determine the causes of the overflows
Cahokia Heights must prepare a report that details the system’s deficiencies and repair or replace the sewer lines and defective manholes
Cahokia Heights will need to investigate the remainder of the sewer system and plan its repair by 2035
the city will be required to take on 80 projects
including building a new interceptor that reroutes wastewater flow that’s estimated to cost $13.5 million and scheduled to be built by 2028
Cahokia Heights will also be required to keep keeping the public informed of its work
This proposal is a combination of construction and assessments already underway by the city and new projects
The $30 million does not include funding stipulations
meaning the city could use state or federal dollars to help it complete the projects
“The Consent Decree builds upon the good work that was started under the IEPA grant
and represents the City’s continued commitment to invest in our infrastructure and improve the lives of residents throughout Cahokia Heights for many years to come,” said Mayor Curtis McCall Sr
The federal and state government filed the decree with the U.S
District Court for the Southern District of Illinois
It’s subject to a 60-day public comment period before final court approval
This development comes as some residents in the areas of town hit hardest by sewage and flooding spills have said the city’s recent construction projects have not solved the problems — and in some cases made them worse.
Attorneys that represent some of the residents most impacted by the decades of decrepit infrastructure said while the settlement marks a step forward it falls short and provides an unreasonably long timeline.
"While this decree may offer some surface-level improvements, it does not provide the immediate, robust relief that this community needs and deserves,” said Nicole Nelson, one of the attorneys. “Residents have been living in these conditions for decades — many for their entire lives. They should not have to wait any longer to live in homes free from raw sewage and floodwaters."
This story has been updated with comments from lawyers representing city residents and information from city officials.
Cahokia Conference conversation dominated most of Monday’s Waterloo School Board meeting, with the board ultimately moving to join as the Mississippi Valley Conference is set to disband.
Waterloo School District Athletic Director Tim Gould led the discussion with a PowerPoint presentation, offering some background and an overview on the conference situation.
Gould first noted that Waterloo is committed to the MVC through next school year, though there have been rumblings about a conference realignment for some time given anticipated enrollment growth at the conference’s largest schools – Mascoutah and Triad – and an apparent lack of competitive balance identified among the conference’s smallest schools – Jerseyville and Civic Memorial.
In the middle of the MVC schools in terms of enrollment are Waterloo and Highland.
Talks about a substantial conference merger took place in early February, with schools in the region discussing a Southwestern Conference expansion consisting of members of the MVC and the South 7 Conference, which includes Marion, Carbondale, Mt. Vernon, Centralia and Cahokia. This expansion would have also included Granite City.
Soonafter, Mascoutah, Triad and Granite City committed to the SWC, with the Cahokia Conference subsequently sending invitations to Civic Memorial and Jerseyville.
Waterloo thus faced a decision between the SWC and Cahokia Conference as the South 7 invited the remaining MVC schools to join, and an opening was created in the Cahokia Conference as Salem committed to the River to River Conference.
With an apparently strong leaning among Waterloo coaches toward the Cahokia Conference, the makeup of the conference in Fall 2026 will be Columbia, Freeburg, Breese Central, Waterloo, Jerseyville and Civic Memorial in football, with East Alton-Wood River and Roxana also joining the conference for that sport.
In other sports than football, the Cahokia Conference will be split up into the Mississippi Division (Breese Central, Civic Memorial, Columbia, Freeburg, Jerseyville and Waterloo), the Illinois Division (Carlyle, Chester, Okawville, Red Bud, Roxana, Sparta, Wesclin and Wood River), and the Kaskaskia Division (Dupo, Lebanon, Marissa, New Athens, Steeleville and Valmeyer).
Gould spoke to some of the pros and cons of joining the Cahokia Conference, noting how the conference would establish schedule clarity – particularly for football – and keep travel times down for students and coaches. He also spoke to how the conference schools, with fairly similar enrollments, would keep things decently competitive across all sports.
“It would be competitive across the board in different sports,” Gould said. “Yes, we would be playing against some teams that are smaller as far as enrollment, but the competition level varies sport by sport… It’s not as if there would be some type of easy cakewalk for Waterloo High School joining the Cahokia Conference.”
In terms of disadvantages, Gould pointed chiefly to how not all schools in the Cahokia Conference would have the same athletic offerings – specifically regarding wrestling and tennis – though he added this would not be a problem when it comes to filling schedules and conference tournaments would still take place as Jerseyville and Civic Memorial match Waterloo in sports offerings.
Regarding the South 7 Conference, Gould mainly noted the disparity in travel times between this conference and the Cahokia Conference, with Marion, Carbondale and Mt. Vernon being particularly lengthy trips for student-athletes.
On this matter, WHS assistant football coach Matt Lucash chimed in later in the discussion, speaking to the impact lengthy trips can have as coaches are kept away from their families in the evenings and students miss school as they sleep in the morning after.
Gould also spoke about the possibility of Waterloo becoming independent in its athletics – though he stressed how much of a “nightmare” this would be when it comes to scheduling an athletic season.
The most vocal board member during this discussion was John Caupert, who chiefly bemoaned the fact the MVC was disbanding at all.
Caupert voiced frustration with the apparent lack of drive on the part of the MVC to stay together.
Caupert further explained his point, saying conference realignment could have been an ideal opportunity for the similarly sized Waterloo and Highland to come together, reinforcing conference ties with Jerseyville and Civic Memorial while also inviting other schools in the area to join the MVC.
“When I look at the facilities, I don’t think that there is a conference in Southern or Southwestern Illinois that beats what we have in the Mississippi Valley Conference,” Caupert said. “I just think that this is somewhat sad.”
Waterloo Superintendent of Schools Brian Charron responded to Caupert, noting there was an effort to keep the MVC from disbanding.
Amidst all this conversation, one parent present at the meeting addressed the board and Gould to ask what impact the conference change would have on students.
Gould indicated that changes would be minimal.
He spoke about basketball as a specific example, with students still set to compete in 35 games and the opponents throughout those games not changing drastically.
Following this conversation, amid other action items, the board voted to accept the invitation to join the Cahokia Conference, with President Lori Dillenberger, Vice President Neil Giffhorn, Secretary Amanda Propst, Jodi Burton and James Yaekel voting in approval. Nathan Mifflin was absent.
The only board member to vote against this motion was Caupert, though this would seem to have been largely symbolic as he noted during the conference discussion that joining the South 7 Conference wasn’t being entertained or advocated for at this point. He had further emphasized he didn’t intend for his comments to influence any other board members’ decisions.
Besides the Cahokia Conference, the board also approved a contract with Bi-County Small Engine Center totalling no more than $10,000 for two 2025 zero-turn mowers with the trade-in of two 2023 zero turn mowers.
With a prompt from Giffhorn, Charron and Director of Building and Grounds Will Hulett reiterated the point that these trade-ins were in-line with a schedule to keep district equipment up-to-date in a way that makes more financial sense than trying to keep aging equipment running.
The board also approved Kennel Klub programming for the school year as well as a number of new employments, including a speech pathologist, two junior high physical education teachers, a high school social studies teacher and an elementary special education teacher.
Giffhorn – noting he meant no offense to the district’s other special education teachers – remarked on the latter’s resume which included a PhD and a letter of recommendation from Fox High School.
Earlier in the meeting, as part of the monthly presentation by the Waterloo Classroom Teachers Association, the board heard from Waterloo High School’s vocation department, specifically a number of students in the department.
Students spoke about their experiences in auto-shop, construction, childhood development, agriculture and business classes, emphasizing the substantial benefits they’ve encountered learning about career fields they’re interested in.
Some topics included how ag students have learned about biosecurity – a subject of recent note given how bird flu has impacted chickens in the country and thus increased the price of eggs – and how learning about both physical and cognitive development in children has helped one student work in her church’s nursery.
Along these lines, WHS Principal Tim McDermott chimed in to note the school’s charity concert for Monroe County House of Neighborly Service takes place this Saturday, with tickets still available. The concert, featuring Adam Wainwright and Craig Campbell, has been put together in no small part thanks to student organization.
“Students have been involved in a lot of parts of the planning and will be there to help us make sure that event goes smoothly,” McDermott said. “It’s been a good experience, and I can’t wait to hear the students talk about it when they’re done.”
At the top of the meeting, Charron also touched on the small degree of damage the school district suffered as a result of the high winds and heavy storms that hit the region Friday night.
As he noted in his report, Waterloo schools suffered only minor damage, with some switch boxes getting blown by power surges and phones not rebooting properly. Everything was apparently up and running again by Monday afternoon.
“Fortunately, our schools made it through the storm on Friday night relatively unscathed,” Charron said. “I heard rumors on Facebook that we lost part of the roof. It probably looked worse than it was.”
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Volume 1 - 2019 | https://doi.org/10.3389/frsc.2019.00006
This article is part of the Research TopicUrban Metabolism Options and Trends, between Growth and DegrowthView all 11 articles
was the largest metropolitan area and the most complex political system in North America north of Mexico
Its metabolism depended on an area of high natural and agricultural productivity
Cahokia absorbed much of the rural population
transforming their labor from agriculture to public works
this population first reoccupied the countryside
Cahokia's sustaining area was largely abandoned until the nineteenth century
Factors pertinent to understanding the collapse of Cahokia include societal metabolism
It is rare that we can study the full course of a city's life
from development to collapse and abandonment
and West Africa were largely covered by later occupations
The site of Cahokia in the center of the United States was never built over by subsequent cities
We know much of Cahokia's metabolism (the production
and processing of the resources on which an institution depends)
as well as the collapse of the society that built it
the development of Cahokia's sustaining area is sufficiently known to show how the center and the countryside evolved together
There is much to be learned about Cahokia, but current knowledge places the settlement within the process of urbanization, and the recurrent process of societal collapse. Several past societies have collapsed (Tainter, 1988; Middleton, 2017)
and a comparative discussion of such cases will show that the collapse of Cahokia can be clarified by understanding the costs and consequences of societal complexity
Europeans who first encountered Cahokia found a landscape of earthen mounds, dominated by a multi-level structure which came to be called Monks Mound. Monks Mound is one of the largest earthworks ever built by prehistoric people (Figure 1)
and a circular structure termed a woodhenge (after England's famous Stonehenge)
Within this area there is abundant evidence of Cahokia's metabolism
That metabolism changed with Cahokia's construction
so that the settlement's metabolism and political development evolved simultaneously
Figure 2. Mississippian Sites in the Southeastern United States (after Pauketat and Emerson, 1997: Figure 1.1)
Cahokia is a product of both hierarchical planning and vernacular expediency. It covers an area of about 14 square kilometers (Pauketat, 1994, p. 5) but its boundaries are unclear (Figure 3). Across a traverse of ten kilometers from Cahokia west to the St. Louis Mound Group, there is evidence of continuous settlement and mound construction (Emerson, 1997b
Figure 3. Central Cahokia (after Pauketat and Emerson, 1997: Figure 1.5)
Monks Mound is an earthen structure of several tiers measuring 291 by 236 m and 30 m high. Its 615,000 cubic meters of fill rank it behind only the Pyramid of Cholula and the Pyramid of the Sun at Teotihuacán among the largest structures in prehistoric North America (Fowler, 1969, p. 1; Pauketat and Emerson, 1997
which originally comprised much of the public architecture of the site
and which were built or added to through nearly the entire period from 1050 to 1300 A.D
The central precinct of the site, organized around Monks Mound, was from the start conceived, planned, and built to create a large and impressive public space (Figures 1, 3) (Milner, 1991, p. 32, Dalan, 1997; Milner, 1998, p. 100; Dalan et al., 2003)
Monks Mound is flanked by plazas on all four sides with the largest—the 19-hectare “Grand Plaza”—extending outward from Monks Mound's southern ramp
The Grand Plaza and other public structures nearby formed the focus of public life
and the political organization of both town and countryside
Figure 4. The northern American Bottom (after Pauketat and Emerson, 1997: Figure 1.2)
Flanking the public space of the Grand Plaza there were smaller mounds, plazas, and residential areas. These do not appear to have been established according to an overall conception or plan. Rather they form a complicated amalgamation of subcommunities or neighborhoods. These subcommunities may have consisted of kin-based social groups (Milner, 1991
which show their own internal organization
resided the people who no doubt formed much of the labor force for public constructions
Cahokia is located in an area called today the American Bottom. It begins on the north at the confluence of the Illinois, Mississippi, and Missouri rivers and ends on the south at the confluence of the Kaskaskia River (Figure 5). In the early ninetieth century it was a floodplain containing sloughs, oxbow lakes in former river channels, forests, long ridges interspersed with wet swales, and occasional large, dry areas (Emerson, 1997b
At the beginning of the historic era the American Bottom was not heavily wooded
but that may be a consequence of the late prehistoric occupation
Figure 5. Mound groups in the Cahokia area (after Pauketat and Emerson, 1997: Figure 1.4)
which were the habitat of trees bearing nutritious nuts
Within this area, Cahokia is situated on higher ground than other locations, near periodically enriched, well-drained soils. Within a five km. catchment around Cahokia there is the largest zone in the area that is optimal for cultivating with stone hoes. Other locations also had these advantages, but Cahokia had more of them (Dalan et al., 2003)
Five archaeological phases (culturally distinct time periods) are pertinent to understanding Cahokia: Emergent Mississippian, ca. 925–1050 A.D.; Lohmann, ca. 1050–1100; Stirling, ca. 1100–1200; Moorehead, ca. 1200–1275; and Sand Prairie, ca. 1275–1350 (Table 1) (Hall, 1991)
Mississippian phases in the American bottom
By late in the Emergent Mississippian period there were formal towns with central plazas, high and low status residences, and large population clusters (Emerson, 1997a, p. 176). In the late tenth century one of these villages, the Range site, may have had 100 structures (Pauketat, 1994, p. 52). Temple mound construction is postulated to have begun at this time, but none has so far been found (Emerson, 1997a: 176)
Cahokia appears to have emerged during a dry period (Munoz et al., 2015)
which is significant for rain-fed agriculture
we see in the decades before 1050 an expanding population based on farming and foraging
American Bottom society was transformed to such a degree that it was reconstituted on its most basic elements
rather than culminating the Emergent Mississippian
can more accurately be said to have revolutionized it
This would have been done in a construction period of only 50 years
Figure 6. Cahokia population estimates. Data from Pauketat and Lopinot (1997
North America north of Mexico had never experienced a community of 10,000 to 15,000 people. Many of the immigrants no doubt went to work on the new public monuments and spaces, and would have needed to be subsidized in many of their daily needs. It is estimated that the five-kilometer catchment around Cahokia could have supported about 7,500 to 12,000 people (Emerson, 1997b
It is thus likely that at least some of the 10,000 to 15,000 people of Lohmann-phase Cahokia would have had to be subsidized by production further away
with an increase in the cost of transporting food
Cahokia was built at a cost of demonstrably higher labor per capita
We see in the Lohmann phase a dissolution of village life that was drastic and abrupt
Given the power clearly held by Cahokia's rulers
it may be accurate to say that village life was deliberately terminated
Such an action would have come from the highest levels
The community bonds of coresidence and sharing were broken
and thereafter Mississippian commoners began increasingly to store food inside their houses rather than communally
Whether or not this transformation was engineered by the elites it was greatly to their advantage
By breaking traditional horizontal ties the elites both eliminated alternative dimensions of organization and created a vacuum in social relations that was filled by reordering society along vertical lines
Hereafter isolated homesteads owed their primary allegiance less to their peers and more to often-distant elites
They measured nearly a meter each in diameter and would have stood to a commensurate height
The southeastern post was replaced at least three times
After the posts were removed a primary mound was built over the location of each
larger primary mound was added between them
then a ridge-shaped mound was constructed to cover all three
At this point Mound 72 achieved its final form
Submound 1 was built over an adult male buried on an extroardinary platform of shell beads
With him were four other individuals buried apparently contemporaneously
It is no exaggeration to call them retainers
for his burial apparently triggered theirs
They were interred with a panoply of exotic goods
including polished stones called discoidals
the stone points of which were fashioned to an extraordinary degree of refinement
While it is tempting to see the apparent sacrifice of these individuals as part of ceremonies attending the construction of the mound
one point is beyond dispute: the rulers of Cahokia had the power to command the execution of scores of individuals
There is no precedent for this in the prehistory of the area
Although we can never be certain that the Cahokian elites deliberately destroyed rural village organization and enforced dispersal into isolated households
the evidence of Mound 72 suggests that it was in their power to do so
Clearly population dispersed outward from Cahokia
but the reason why and the consequences are not fully known
continued at a high level in the Stirling phase
We may consider that the high level of nucleation in the Lohmann phase proved unsupportable
and so labor was released back to the countryside for agricultural production
Those remaining at Cahokia would have been forced to undertake even greater efforts per capita in public construction
or labor forces would have had to be brought temporarily from the countryside
The latter option would have presented scheduling problems
for the most suitable time of year for constructing public monuments—when the ground is dry and unfrozen—corresponds to the agricultural labor season
Figure 7. Rural population indices, northern American Bottom (Lohmann Phase = 100). Data from Milner (1986
With the exception of Monks and Powell mounds, most early mounds at Cahokia, as noted, were comparatively small. During the Stirling phase construction was begun on a set of mounds that were substantially larger (Dalan, 1997, p. 99). By the end of the Stirling phase and into the Moorehead phase these mounds attain a size that Kelly describes as “massive” (Kelly J. E., 1997
the additions became much greater and may have been established over longer periods of time
The Stirling phase was also the time when the post-and-circle monuments (woodhenges) were built—and rebuilt at least three times. The first construction of the Great Palisade (Figure 1) began late in the period, with three successive rebuildings extending into the Moorehead phase (Pauketat, 1994
In these monuments we see a higher level of planning and engineering in public construction
and correspondingly a greater component of esoteric knowledge
The Stirling phase paradoxically yields evidence of both the height of Cahokia's power and the beginning of its downfall
The picture that emerges of Stirling-phase Cahokia is of a polity at the peak of its power
engaging in ambitious public works at a sustained level
and tightening its grip on the countryside through a set of intermediate integrative centers
Yet in the formation of these centers we also perceive a diminution of Cahokia's power
This diffusion of power is reflected in the initial disaggregation of Cahokia itself and the dispersal of half its population to the countryside
Though these people must nominally have remained under central authority they were no longer subject to day-to-day control
In their absence those remaining at Cahokia again assumed greater labor burdens than before
the palisade alone required a labor force of 2,000–4,000 each time it was rebuilt
Unlike the Stirling phase, the Moorehead population decline at Cahokia cannot be attributed to the release of labor to the countryside. The rural population of the thirteenth century declined also, and it did so quite as dramatically (Figure 7)
George Milner sees a population decline on the order of 61% (1986
Indeed the Moorehead phase population of the American Bottom dropped even below that of the Lohmann phase
to about 61% of its level of 100 to 150 years previously
It is not surprising to find that the demographic geography of the American Bottom underwent a complete reversal
with Cahokia's influence changing from centripetal to centrifugal
People were voting with their feet and Cahokia's elites
could no longer enforce the allegiance of their subjects
Table 2. Plant remains from below Mound 51 (after Fritz, 2019
Late in Cahokia's occupation, plant food diets changed. People who had relied on the diverse plant foods of the Eastern Agricultural Complex came to depend heavily on maize (Fritz, 2019
The significance of this development will be discussed below
Table 3. Faunal remains from Cahokia (after Kelly L. S., 1997
These changes in diet coincided with the major changes in political and territorial organization described earlier
These settlements were abandoned late in Cahokia's occupation
As with the large variety of foods produced for the residents of Cahokia
the production of food in both bottomland and upland environments would have enhanced the security of the food supply
Crops would be unlikely to fail in both areas
If bottomland fields had too much water (a common problem)
the moist bottomland soils would be more likely to produce a crop than the drier upland soils
In fact, this strategy has proven beneficial even in modern times. Interviewing farmers who had lived in the area in the 1930s, Chmurny (1973) found distinct strategies underlying long-term failure or success
Those who gambled on maximizing production often failed
They tried to predict yearly moisture conditions and concentrated production on either well-watered or well-drained soils within a particular farm
Farmers successful over the long-term divided their risks between well-drained and well-watered soils in the bottom and the uplands
It was a strategy of maximizing one's chances for survival rather than maximizing profit
Missippian farmers would have had similar experiences
the people who established Cahokia lived in an environment that provided an exceptional variety of foods
and care had to be taken to ensure an adequate supply for the largest concentration of people seen north of Mexico before the nineteenth century
The mix of plant and animal species used changed over time
Maize became widely used late in the region's occupation
while animal use shifted from fish to mammals
These changes coincided with Cahokia's political development and regional settlement patterns
and terrain supported both the population and the metropolis
Cahokia's metabolism, political system, and metropolitan development emerged together. None can be understood without the others. The agricultural productivity of the Eastern Agricultural Complex provided the metabolism that made the Big Bang possible. Since solar energy provides few calories per unit of land, humans have rarely had abundant energy. Human activities and the complexity of societies evolve to make use of whatever energy is available (Tainter, 2011)
the energy supplied by the plants of the Eastern Agricultural Complex led to the establishment of a metropolis
The Lohmann phase saw the termination of a system of rural villages
and the transfer of their populations to Cahokia
This coincided with the construction of a planned urban center
All this was done in a period of no more than 50 years
Cahokia became the home of 10,000 to 15,000 people
The plant food diet seems to have remained unchanged in the Lohmann phase
while mammal use (mainly deer) increased proportionately
This may reflect a change in the distribution of population
Fewer people resided in bottomland villages
More people settled in or near the bluffs and uplands (the Richland Complex)
As population dispersed outward from Cahokia during the Stirling phase
Cahokia's metabolic basis did not immediately change
A three-tiered settlement hierarchy developed in the countryside as the population of Cahokia declined by half
More of the population was living near their agricultural fields
so that the labor cost of transporting food to Cahokia was increased
During the thirteenth century, population declined in both Cahokia and the countryside. At the same time, plant food diets shifted away from the Eastern Agricultural Complex crops toward more use of maize (Fritz, 2019
The political and demographic stresses that the region was experiencing required a change in diet
a change to a crop that was more productive but less nutritious
Animal use became more localized and the use of fish increased
People consumed more of the less desirable parts of deer carcasses
Cahokia had collapsed as a complex metropolis
More and more people left the American Bottom
and it was largely unused until the nineteenth century
When investigating the collapse of a complex society
there is no unequivocal evidence that Cahokia's existence was threatened by other societies
from upstream snow melt and from precipitation in the upper Missouri and/or upper Mississippi basins
which would surely have affected cultivation
Fecol stanols (organic molecules that originate in the human gut, and persist for centuries in soils) closely track reconstructed population trends in the American Bottom (White et al., 2018). The frequency of these molecules, argue White et al. (2019)
support the idea that massive flooding was related to the late twelfth century changes
catastrophic abandonment of some settlements
which suggests that agricultural production was not a limiting factor
While Cahokia's environment was of course important
we must turn to social and economic factors to understand the end of Cahokia
The most enigmatic aspect of early Cahokia is the constellation of rapid changes about 1050 A.D
that Pauketat aptly characterizes as the Big Bang (1997
Over a short time Cahokia was transformed from an important village to a planned metropolis
Cahokia underwent processes common to the early phases of urbanization
These included the planning and construction of its core
and the transfer of populations from rural agriculture to central public works
Rural social structure was atomized—reduced to the most basic element
The horizontal ties of community integration were severed
leaving society to be reconstituted along vertical lines
History may offer few examples of such profound
Societies that experience this problem for a protracted time will ultimately encounter three options: impoverish the support population
acquire new energy subsidies to pay for complexity
These options aren't mutually exclusive: the first and second often do no more than delay the third
Figure 8. The marginal product of increasing complexity (after Tainter, 1988
Several factors are pertinent to understanding the collapse of Cahokia
and the extent of vertical differentiation within the elite stratum
Based on present knowledge we observe that after the initial, massive constructions of the Lohmann phase—Monks Mound and the Grand Plaza—public building continued at a high level during the Stirling phase and into at least early Moorehead. In fact, the labor required for public works peaked in the Moorehead phase (Milner, 1998
The palisade and post-and-circle monuments were built
The ordinary mounds of later periods tended to be more massive than those of the Lohmann phase
There were clearly public labor requirements throughout most of Cahokia's duration
Expanding the middle levels of a hierarchy increases the overall societal costs to support elite classes
and creates levels of administrators who can block the flow of resources to the top of the hierarchy
The population trends of the region are probably the most important indicator of all. Population decline is often a correlate of sociopolitical collapse. It can be observed in such collapses as the Roman Empire, the Third Dynasty of Ur, the Abbasid Caliphate, the Hittite Empire, Mycenaean Greece, the southern Lowland Maya, the southern Andes after the fall of Huari, Chaco Canyon, and of course Cahokia (Tainter, 1988, 1999)
Voluntary emigration from the American Bottom was apparently a major component of this decline
Those remaining had to assume a higher labor burden to support the ongoing public works
The population trend indicates both that the metabolism supporting Cahokia was being weakened
and that disaffection of the population was a component of Cahokia's fall
For such cases it seems particularly worthwhile to investigate whether there was a component of environmental degradation to the processes of collapse and abandonment
so that these regions became unsuitable for dense occupation
This may have been the case in the American Bottom
although evidence does not yet support such a finding
Cities grow where people have already settled, which is likely to be the best agricultural land. As noted above, this was the case at Cahokia, which had more of the best land nearby than other locations in the American Bottom (Dalan et al., 2003, p. 85). Such optimal land is converted to urban uses. Population aggregation and continued growth must then be sustained by less productive land (Barthel et al., 2019)
or land some distance away (such as the Richland Complex sites
This forces cities to undertake the cost of transporting food
and creates pressure to cultivate intensively
Intensive cultivation on less desirable land is likely to lead to degradation of the land
Thus we see characteristic patterns to the collapse of Cahokia: initial centralization and reorganization of the support population
followed by population dispersal and vertical differentiation
a continued high level of public construction
As people left the American Bottom those remaining assumed a higher labor burden per capita to support the hierarchy and its public works
The cost to each individual of supporting the hierarchy grew without any commensurate increase in the hierarchy's outputs
It was a characteristic case of diminishing returns to investment in complex institutions and it made the collapse probable or even inevitable
cities today grow to a size and level of complexity that was previously impossible
Notwithstanding this difference in energy base
ancient cities can give us lessons about the process of urbanization in general
One important lesson concerns innovation. To be sustained cities must innovate. They must innovate not only at a high rate, but also at an accelerating pace (Bettencourt et al., 2007)
With the constellation of developments around the Big Bang
it is clear that early Cahokia was highly innovative
the creation of an unprecedented metropolis
and the planning and construction of central Cahokia point to a society (or at least an elite stratum and planners within that society) that was highly creative
Nothing like Cahokia had been developed before north of Mexico
and nothing on this scale would be created again by native people
and the return of agricultural labor to the countryside during the Stirling phase
show that the rulers of Cahokia continued to be highly innovative
A lack of innovation cannot be suggested as the reason for Cahokia's collapse
No comparable society developed north of Mexico
Notwithstanding the construction of the palisade
there is no evidence that Cahokia was mortally threatened by external enemies
Cahokia does not appear to have served a mercantile function
There is no evidence that Cahokia provided any material resources or services to the countryside
the flow of resources went from the countryside to Cahokia
created solely to aggregate and control the rural population and its resources
Its lesson for today concerns the challenges of top-down urbanism
the city created out of the Amazon to administer the Brazilian state
Brasilia works because its malfunctioning planned parts are augmented by functional unplanned parts and the people who live in them (1998
While we cannot point to a single factor or challenge that caused Cahokia's collapse
The datasets analyzed in this manuscript are not publicly available
Requests to access the datasets should be directed to the authors cited herein
The author confirms being the sole contributor of this work and has approved it for publication
The author declares that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest
I am pleased to thank Sergio Ulgiati for the invitation to prepare this paper
Lynne Goldstein for recommending literature on fauna consumed at Cahokia
1. Some authors see Cahokia as having had a centralizing ideological function (e.g., Pauketat, 2004: 113–119
which is interpreted here as a means of controlling the population rather than an advantage to it
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Citation: Tainter JA (2019) Cahokia: Urbanization
Received: 16 August 2019; Accepted: 08 November 2019; Published: 03 December 2019
Copyright © 2019 Tainter. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY)
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Walter Byrd remembers the first time sewage came bubbling out of his toilet like it was yesterday
“It was just pumping up through there,” Byrd says
“One of the bathrooms was so full of waste
foul-smelling water and doused the floor with bleach
it overflowed from drainage ditches into his yard
carrying wads of toilet paper and human waste
had been a source of pride for Byrd when he first built it in 1996
caring for his vegetable garden and watching wildlife wander through the backyard
But trying to stop the sewage backups quickly became his main focus
consuming countless hours and thousands of dollars of his savings
Byrd’s is one of hundreds of homes in this small community that has experienced sewage backups for years. The southern Illinois city, which sits just across the Mississippi River from St. Louis, has struggled with declining population sizes in recent decades. The majority of residents are Black and over 40% live in poverty
At a town hall meeting in 2021
Illinois Senator Tammy Duckworth said that communities of color
have had to “bear the burden” of sewage backups and other environmental issues for far too long
“No one should be forced to live with a public health crisis in their backyard
the color of their skin or how much money they make,” Duckworth said
Though the issue is particularly severe in Cahokia Heights
residential sewage backups are common across the country
depending on how each city’s sewer and stormwater systems are designed
persistent sewage backups can be traced to outdated
poorly maintained systems that are unable to handle current demand
The city’s stormwater and sewer systems were originally designed to be separate
The low-lying region relies on a network of drainage ditches and pumps to funnel stormwater to nearby waterways
struggle to keep up during intense rainstorms
many stormwater pipes are cracked or blocked with sludge and tree roots
When the pumps and pipes can’t keep up with rainfall
Louis District of the Army Corps of Engineers
it can enter sanitary sewers through manholes
creating a “mixing and blending” between the two systems
The influx of stormwater sends water in the sewage system “back upstream” through pipes
and into people’s homes through bathtub drains
after 4 feet of floodwater inundated one neighborhood
But civil rights attorney Kalila Jackson says the root cause of sewer backups in Cahokia Heights is prolonged infrastructure neglect
a nonprofit representing some residents affected by sewage backups in two ongoing lawsuits against the city
“This was completely preventable,” Jackson says
“This is not a situation where people moved into a flood zone
They didn't move into the path of the Mississippi
after decade of someone failing to maintain a system.”
Residents dealing with sewage backups may also face health risks, as human waste carries bacteria, viruses and parasites. One ongoing study has found parasites in stool samples collected from residents
Some residents have also tested positive for Helicobacter pylori
a common bacterium that infects the stomach lining
an assistant professor of biological anthropology at Washington University in St
Pathogens and parasites like these tend to be more common in developing countries
and are often underappreciated by US researchers and medical professionals
But infections can have health consequences
“It is the most vulnerable who experience this and it can really compound existing issues
not having access to nutritious food or clean drinking water,” Gildner says
Deteriorating infrastructure is not the only cause of sewage overflows
There are more than 700 communities in the US with combined sewer systems
these systems were hailed as a major improvement over the open ditches and cesspools of human waste that were common at the time and caused frequent disease outbreaks
newer cities started building completely separate sewage and stormwater systems
Some cities, like Minneapolis
have worked to separate the sewage and stormwater systems into different pipes
are working to add capacity to their system instead
building storage tanks to temporarily hold the excess sewage and stormwater until the treatment plant can handle it
The stream now handles most of the stormwater from the surrounding low-income neighborhood that once faced persistent sewer backups and combined sewer overflows
Nearly $50 million in state and federal funding has been set aside for the work
which could take at least a decade to complete
Whether the funding will be enough to fully fix the city’s sewage issues remains unclear
Cahokia Heights officials did not make anyone available for an interview or respond to specific questions for this story
After grappling with sewage backups for years
residents are impatient for the issue to be fixed
Walter Byrd’s home has had a growing list of issues related to the sewage backups
from a persistent mold problem to rotting floorboards
He estimates he’s spent tens of thousands of dollars over the years on repairs
Byrd hopes the government will buy out his home
so he can afford to move somewhere else and have something to leave to his grandkids one day
This story was originally published at Science Friday — a weekly program exploring the world of science
American Public Media editor and science journalist Shahla Farzan joins SciFri’s John Dankosky and WVXU local government reporter Becca Costello to discuss sewage backups in the US and what can be done about them
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Ill.—One of two teenagers shot over the weekend has died
that's according to the Major Case Squad of Greater St
Invesgtigators announced Tuesday 15-year-old Charles E
and the shooting of an unnamed 15-year-old after being requested by the Cahokia Heights Police Department
police received multiple reports of gunshots and discovered Jones and another teenager shot in the 100 block of Lazarcheff in Cahokia Heights
Both teens were taken to a hospital where one was treated and released.
The Major Case Squad says Jones was in critical condition fllowing the shooting
“Persons of interest have been developed, and some individuals are currently in custody,” said Sgt. Andrew Pierson, Public Information Officer for the Major Case Squad on their X account
Officials say the names or potential charges are not being rleeased at this time
Investigators are still actively pursing several leads and asking anyone with information to come forward by contacting the Major Case Squad at 618-332-4277 or CrimeStoppers at 866-371-TIPS
Please find the attached update for the Cahokia Heights activation. pic.twitter.com/XQneUy9rhP
Clair county State’s Attorney’s Office for review.”
anyone with information is asked to call the Major Case Squad Command Post at 618-332-4277 or Crime Stoppers at 1-866-371-TIPS (8477) where you can do so anonymously
This is a developing story and will be updated as more information becomes available
With the departure of two schools now official
remaining members of the Mississippi Valley Conference are exploring other options for its sports programs
Waterloo Superintendent of Schools Brian Charron spoke about the MVC’s dissolving at the district’s school board meeting Monday night
noting Mascoutah had decided to leave the conference
Both schools will join the Southwestern Conference starting with the 2026-27 school year
Other schools in this conference are Alton
with Collinsville and Granite City also considering a return to the SWC
Remaining schools in the MVC – which has committed to stay together as a league through the 2025-26 school year – are Waterloo
Charron explained that Waterloo and Highland had been invited to join the South Seven Conference – which includes Cahokia
Carbondale and Centralia – speaking positively about the offer given the schools in that conference have athletic programs that match Waterloo’s
Charron continued that Waterloo had also received an invite to the Cahokia Conference
He described a personal conflict on the decision
noting how both conferences have their pros and cons for Waterloo – mainly regarding distance and competition
“I think the furthest drive would be about an hour and 15 minutes away,” Charron said
with the Cahokia Conference is they don’t all compete in all the sports that we have here
My bet is that this is something that’s evolving throughout the Metro East and Southern Illinois
and there’s probably going to be some teaming up with some larger schools.”
Also as part of the discussion among Charron
board members and Waterloo School District Athletic Director Tim Gould
it was noted Waterloo would still be playing games with schools outside of their conference
and there are no concerns about any sports in the district not being able to continue
While the school board didn’t make a decision Monday
as Charron was simply discussing the matter as part of his monthly report
the action is set to be presented to the school board next month
with members of the district apparently interested in keeping things closer to the St
with the support of high school administration
are leaning toward joining the Cahokia Conference,” Charron said
Our understanding is that Civic Memorial and Jersey are also making that recommendation
We would be in that division with Columbia
the Mississippi Division of the Cahokia Conference also includes Salem
The MVC was formed in 1971 and has been one of the most stable conferences in Illinois high school athletics
previously a member of the Cahokia Conference
joined the MVC in 1998 to take the place of Roxana and Wood River
who left the MVC due to declining enrollment.
Nine hundred years ago, the Cahokia Mounds settlement just across the Mississippi River from present-day St
Louis bustled with roughly 50,000 people in the metropolitan area
making it one of the largest communities in the world
the once-popular site was practically deserted
a mass departure that remains shrouded in mystery
One popular theory is that the Cahokia residents abandoned the settlement after a massive crop failure brought on by a prolonged drought. But a new study in the journal The Holocene by Natalie Mueller
an assistant professor of archaeology in Arts & Sciences at Washington University in St
suggests the Cahokians likely had other reasons to leave town
Rankin dug deep into the soil at the historic Cahokia site to collect isotopes of carbon
atoms left behind by the plants growing when the human population collapsed and drought was common across the Midwest
but not all plants do photosynthesis the same way
Plants adapted to dry climates — including prairie grasses and maize
an important new crop during the Cahokia period — incorporate carbon into their bodies at rates that leave behind a tell-tale signature when the plants die and decay
Most of the other plants that the Cahokians would have harvested for food — including squash
goosefoot and sumpweed — will leave a different signature
one they share with plants from wetlands and native forests
Rankin’s samples showed that ratios of Carbon 12 and Carbon 13 stayed relatively consistent during that crucial period — a sign there was no radical shift in the types of plants growing in the area
“We saw no evidence that prairie grasses were taking over
which we would expect in a scenario where widespread crop failure was occurring,” Mueller said
The Cahokians are known for their ingenuity
and Rankin said they may have had the engineering and irrigation skills to keep crops flourishing under difficult conditions
“It’s possible that they weren’t really feeling the impacts of the drought,” said Rankin
now an archaeologist with the Bureau of Land Management in Nevada
Mueller added that the sophisticated society that blossomed at Cahokia almost certainly included a storage system for grains and other foods
Residents also enjoyed a varied and diverse diet — including fish
bear and forest fruits and nuts — that would have kept them nourished even if a few food sources disappeared
To get a better grasp of the diets and agricultural practices of Indigenous people of the Midwest
Mueller hopes to build a database that collects paleo-botanical evidence from across the region
“Gathering that information would help us see if people switched to different crops in response to climate change,” she said
She’s also planning to grow certain food crops in controlled conditions on the WashU campus to understand how they might have responded to ancient droughts and other challenges
why did the Cahokians leave their land of plenty
“I don’t envision a scene where thousands of people were suddenly streaming out of town,” she said
“People probably just spread out to be near kin or to find different opportunities.”
“They put a lot of effort into building these mounds
but there were probably external pressures that caused them to leave,” Rankin said
This story was originally published on the Ampersand website
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The Columbia High School football team dropped a 30-17 contest at Cahokia in a first round Class 4A playoff matchup Friday night at Cahokia High School
The Eagles (6-4) recovered an onside kick to start the game
getting a 27-yard field goal by Keegan Thompson to take a 3-0 lead with six minutes left in the opening quarter.
milking as much of the play clock as possible in an attempt to keep the ball out of the hands of Cahokia’s potent offense
Cahokia (8-2) marched right down the field in its opening possession
ending with a short touchdown run by quarterback Zion Taylor
so Cahokia was up 6-3 at 3:51 of the first quarter.
Columbia answered with solid runs by running back Jase Nelson and quarterback Mason Voegele
Nelson ended up running it in from seven yards out to make it a 10-6 lead for the Eagles at 10:19 of the second quarter.
Cahokia converted the two-point try.
The Comanches added to their lead to close out the first half
getting a big run and a long pass plus a roughing penalty along the way
Cahokia got a 13-yard TD pass to open the fourth quarter to go up 30-10.
The Eagles mustered one last scoring drive midway through the final frame.
Following a long kickoff return by Logan Hicks
Voegele threw a 22-yard TD pass to Hudson Bryant with 6:29 left to make it a 30-17 contest.
An onside kick by Columbia was recovered by Cahokia
but the Eagles were unable to work up some late game magic.
Nelson finished with 87 yards rushing on the night.
Voegele threw for 75 yards and ran for 69 yards.
Cahokia travels this Saturday to Waterloo in a second round Class 4A playoff contest
“I was very happy with our performance against a team that was extremely quick and talented,” Columbia head coach Scott Horner said after the game
“Our kids did not back down and played ‘til the end. They should be proud.”
Horner stressed the commitment by his players to improve personally and as a team from last year’s 2-7 showing
“Our players put a lot of time in during the offseason
and it showed throughout the year,” Horner said
Playing their final games as Eagles were seniors Voegele
“Our seniors led us throughout the year with their attitude and effort
and they should be very proud of what they accomplished,” Horner said
Voegele threw for 983 yards this season with nine TD passes and seven interceptions in addition to rushing for 511 yards and five TDs
a junior who rushed for 865 yards and scored 10 total TDs this fall
See photos from the game by clicking here
image: The remains of the most sophisticated prehistoric native civilization north of Mexico are preserved at Cahokia Mounds State Historic Site in Illinois
Archaeologist Natalie Mueller's new study casts doubt on a popular theory about why the ancient city was abandoned
Credit: Photo: Joe Angeles / Washington University
Nine hundred years ago, the Cahokia Mounds settlement just across the Mississippi River from present-day St
One popular theory is that the Cahokia residents abandoned the settlement after a massive crop failure brought on by a prolonged drought. But a new study in the journal The Holocene by Natalie Mueller
assistant professor of archaeology in Arts & Sciences at Washington University in St
Plants adapted to dry climates — including prairie grasses and maize
an important new crop during the Cahokia period — incorporate carbon into their bodies at rates that leave behind a tell-tale signature when the plants die and decay
Most of the other plants that the Cahokians would have harvested for food — including squash
goosefoot and sumpweed — will leave a different signature
Rankin’s samples showed that ratios of Carbon 12 and Carbon 13 stayed relatively consistent during that crucial period — a sign there was no radical shift in the types of plants growing in the area
“We saw no evidence that prairie grasses were taking over
which we would expect in a scenario where widespread crop failure was occurring,” Mueller said
“It’s possible that they weren’t really feeling the impacts of the drought,” said Rankin
Residents also enjoyed a varied and diverse diet — including fish
bear and forest fruits and nuts — that would have kept them nourished even if a few food sources disappeared
“Gathering that information would help us see if people switched to different crops in response to climate change,” she said
She’s also planning to grow certain food crops in controlled conditions on campus to understand how they might have responded to ancient droughts and other challenges
“I don’t envision a scene where thousands of people were suddenly streaming out of town,” she said
“People probably just spread out to be near kin or to find different opportunities.”
“They put a lot of effort into building these mounds
but there were probably external pressures that caused them to leave,” Rankin said
“The picture is likely complicated.”
This story was originally published on the Ampersand website
10.1177/09596836241254488
Correlating Late-Holocene climate change and population dynamics at Cahokia Mounds (American Bottom
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