Thule 38-41

40 Davide Domenici, Imma Valese
future East and West plazas were cleared and relocated in order to create
a quadripartite formal arrangement of four plazas around Monks Mound,
following a widespread Native American cosmological template (KELLY
J.E. 1996a; KELLY J.E. - BROWN J.A. 2014) (fig. 2).
Fig. 2. Map of central Cahokia with quadripartite plazas arrangement around Monks
Mound (image by J. Kelly)
During the Lohmann (AD 1050-1100), Stirling (AD 1100-1200), and
Moorehead (AD 1200-1275) phases, more than hundred earthen mounds were
erected along the margins of the plazas and in other areas of the settlement,
occupying an area of approximately 13 km 2 , with estimates of its population
ranging from 10,000 to 15,000 individuals (MILNER G.R. 1998; PAUKETAT
T.R. - LOPINOT N.H. 1997).