Woodhenges At Cahokia Mounds, Illinois



The Native Americans used woodhenges to tell about seasons and what time of day it was.


As our Earth goes around the Sun and turns, the Sun's position will change what the post's shadows look like.


Knowing what time of day it was helped the Indians know when it was time to eat, play and to do other jobs.


They could tell time by how the sun was shining on the posts making shadows go in different directions.



Part of Circle One was buried by Mound 44. Circle 1 had 24 posts and our day has 24 hours. I find it wierd that no center post was placed in Circle One. Since a center post would help them tell what time it was in half hour periods.

In the book we read, "The Wisconsin Archeologist", Volume 77, Number 3/4, July-December 1996, the authors said their were two observation posts. We found only one and made it part of our model.


Different circle rings were used at different times. Woodhenges were built from 800 AD through 1300 AD. Every couple of hundred years the Native Americans changed the posts on the woodhenge making new circles with different numbers of posts.



My model came from page 27 of "The Wisconsin Archeologist", Volume 77, Number 3/4, July-December 1996.



Ely Thayer, December 1999

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