Cahokia Quiz: Monks Mound and America's Ancient City
This Cahokia quiz climbs Monks Mound near St. Louis to explore the largest ancient city north of Mexico. Play 10 interactive questions on the Mississippian culture, its population, the Grand Plaza, Woodhenge, Mound 72, the game chunkey, how many mounds once stood, the UNESCO listing and how the city declined.
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🎯 Daily Trivia Challenge • 🧠 10 Questions • ⏱️ 150 Seconds
State
In which US state is Cahokia?
Culture
Which culture built Cahokia?
Size
What makes Cahokia stand out among ancient sites?
Mound
What is Monks Mound?
Name
How did Monks Mound get its name?
Henge
What was Woodhenge?
Plaza
What open space lay beside Monks Mound?
Game
Which game was played with stone discs and spears?
Mounds
About how many mounds once stood at Cahokia?
UNESCO
When did Cahokia become a World Heritage Site?
Your score
0/10
Scroll down to see the explanation for each question.
Explanations: answer key for all 10 questions
- Q1: In which US state is Cahokia?
Answer: Illinois
It lies across the Mississippi from St. Louis.
- Q2: Which culture built Cahokia?
Answer: The Mississippian culture
It peaked around 1050 to 1350 CE.
- Q3: What makes Cahokia stand out among ancient sites?
Answer: It was the largest city north of Mexico
Thousands lived there.
- Q4: What is Monks Mound?
Answer: The largest earthen mound in the Americas
It is about 30 meters tall.
- Q5: How did Monks Mound get its name?
Answer: French monks once lived nearby
The name is much later than the city.
- Q6: What was Woodhenge?
Answer: A circle of wooden posts tracking the sun
It marked solstices and equinoxes.
- Q7: What open space lay beside Monks Mound?
Answer: The Grand Plaza
It was carefully leveled.
- Q8: Which game was played with stone discs and spears?
Answer: Chunkey
Crowds gathered to watch.
- Q9: About how many mounds once stood at Cahokia?
Answer: About 120
Many were later destroyed.
- Q10: When did Cahokia become a World Heritage Site?
Answer: 1982
It is a state historic site too.
Cahokia Quiz – Monks Mound and America's Ancient City
Cahokia, in Illinois across the Mississippi River from St. Louis, was the largest city north of Mexico before Europeans arrived. The Mississippian culture built it, and it peaked around 1050 to 1350 CE.
Monks Mound, the largest earthen mound in the Americas, rises about 30 meters beside the Grand Plaza. Its name comes from French monks who lived nearby centuries later.
Around 120 mounds once stood here, and a circle of posts called Woodhenge tracked the sun. People played chunkey with stone discs, and Mound 72 held important burials. The city later declined, and it became a UNESCO site in 1982.
What This Quiz Teaches
History fans will enjoy these questions.
- Where Cahokia is
- Who built it
- What Monks Mound is
- What daily life included
- How it is protected
Did You Know?
- Workers carried soil in baskets to build the mounds.
- A wooden stockade once surrounded the center.
- Shell beads were found in Mound 72.
- Visitors can climb stairs to the top of Monks Mound.
- Modern highways cut through parts of the old city.
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