RE-RELEASE: The Mound Builders of Cahokia

Ancient History Fangirl

History, Society & Culture

4.5 • 518 Ratings

🗓️ 29 January 2026

⏱️ 97 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

⁠⁠⁠Help keep our podcast going by contributing to our Patreon! Hundreds of years before European contact, the biggest city in North America was located along the Mississippi River. At its peak, perhaps 15,000 people lived there—and over 30,000 in the surrounding suburbs. Today, we call it Cahokia. Nobody knows what the original name of this city was. But there was a time when everybody knew its name—from the Great Lakes to the Eastern Seaboard, and from the Rocky Mountains to the Gulf of Mexico. What was that name, and why was it lost to time and memory? That’s just one of the many mysteries of Cahokia. Sponsors and Advertising This podcast is a member of Airwave Media podcast network. Want to advertise on our show? Please direct advertising inquiries to advertising@airwavemedia.com. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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0:00.0	You're listening to an Airwave Media podcast.
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1:02.5	I'm not Williamson.
1:20.1	And I'm Jen McManamy.
1:22.0	And this is Ancient History Fan Girl.
1:24.6	When you think of the great cities of the pre-Columbian Americas, you probably think, at least I think,
1:29.7	of the massive settlements of the Aztecs or the Incas, Tenuketlan, or Machu Picchu, or Kusco.
1:36.2	These cities are all in Central and South America.
1:39.1	North America isn't exactly known for its large pre-Columbian cities, but that's mainly due to ignorance.
1:45.8	Jen.
1:46.5	Jen.
1:47.1	Yes.
1:47.7	Yes.
1:48.9	What if I told you that hundreds of years before European contact, the biggest city in North
	...

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