Joint South-Central and North-Central Sections, both conducting their 41st Annual Meeting (11–13 April 2007)
Paper No. 40-1
Presentation Time: 1:20 PM-1:40 PM

THE GEOARCHAEOLOGY OF MONKS MOUND

WOODS, William I., University of Kansas, Department of Geography, Lawrence, KS 66045, wwoods@ku.edu

Located within the Cahokia site in the Middle Mississippi Valley of southern Illinois, Monks Mound is the largest prehistoric earthen construction to the north of central Mexico. After a millennium of relative stability this monument has since 1984 experienced a series of massive slope failures. Beginning in 1985 and continuing for almost 20 years a field program of limited excavation, coupled with coring and remote sensing was conducted on and around the mound. Concurrently, documentary research and laboratory analysis of recovered samples took place. Based on this work the engineering principles, differential selection and placement of materials, sequence of construction, questions of stability, and diachronic use of the mound are addressed.

Joint South-Central and North-Central Sections, both conducting their 41st Annual Meeting (11–13 April 2007)
General Information for this Meeting
Session No. 40
Geoarchaeological and Geomorphological Explorations in the Midcontinent II: In Honor of Wakefield Dort Jr.
Kansas Union, University of Kansas: Alderson Auditorium
1:20 PM-5:00 PM, Friday, 13 April 2007

Geological Society of America Abstracts with Programs, Vol. 39, No. 3, p. 72
© Copyright 2007 The Geological Society of America (GSA), all rights reserved. Permission is hereby granted to the author(s) of this abstract to reproduce and distribute it freely, for noncommercial purposes. Permission is hereby granted to any individual scientist to download a single copy of this electronic file and reproduce up to 20 paper copies for noncommercial purposes advancing science and education, including classroom use, providing all reproductions include the complete content shown here, including the author information. All other forms of reproduction and/or transmittal are prohibited without written permission from GSA Copyright Permissions.