CAHOKIA BURIAL

The excavation of a burial site at Cahokia revealed the remains of a man—presumably a revered leader—whom Cahokians buried atop a large cape covered with shell beads in the shape of a bird. Nearby in the same mound, excavators found mass graves of scores of other Cahokians, many of them executed just before burial, evidently during ceremonies to honor their leader. Photo courtesy of University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee Archaeological Research Laboratory (ARL image 1967.2.31).