While it is common knowledge that Christopher Columbus reached America by accident in 1492, North America was already inhabited for thousands of years beforehand. Thanks to modern day excavations by archaeologists, we have the opportunity to discover what the Midwest was like thousands of years ago.

The Cahokia Mounds

The Cahokia Mounds were built sometime around 700 A.D. in modern-day Illinois. The site was the site of an ancient Native American settlement that had a population of 15,000 in its heyday between 1000 and 1150 A.D. The site was part of a series of settlements along the Mississippi River. While the site has 120 mounds in its heyday, the biggest one was a 100-foot mound known as Monks Mound. The 14-acre Monks Mound was thought to be the epicenter of the ancient city. The settlement was known as a city of commerce in which nearby farmers sold their produce to the inhabitants of the city. The settlement was ruled by an elite class of chiefs with power handed to them by birthright. However, the settlement isolated itself from the outside world by building a two-mile stockade around the city with guard towers every 70 feet. The settlement was also known for its numerous human sacrifices as 280 skeletons were discovered in a supposed charnel house. The settlement was abandoned a century before Christopher Columbus landed in America. It is unknown what language the Cahokians spoke since their name came from the Illini who settled the area during the mid-1600s. Although the mounds weren’t discovered by western explorers until the mid-1700s, French explorers Jacques Marquette and Louis Joliet described the area as being uninhabited during their Mississippi River expedition in 1673.

Michigan Mammoth

Last September, a farmer outside Chelsea, Michigan discovered a partial woolly mammoth skeleton in his wheat field. He accidentally stumbled onto the woolly mammoth skeleton while digging a trench to install a drainage pipe. The farmer contacted the University Of Michigan Museum Of Paleontology where they started an excavation on the site of the discovery where they discovered the other remains of the woolly mammoth.

Palace Site

Palace Site is the remains of a 7,000-year-old settlement in modern-day Des Moines, Iowa. It is thought to be the oldest settlement in the state of Iowa. It was nicknamed “The Palace” because of how well-preserved it is. During a 2011 excavation by archaeologists from the University of Iowa, the team unearthed four possible oval-shaped houses made out of wooden poles that are covered in clay. Two skeletons of a mother and child were also discovered in the area. It is thought they have died between 6,680 to 6,890 years ago. More than 6,000 artifacts were discovered during their excavation. It is unknown what tribe the settlement belonged but they know they were hunter-gatherers.