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When you mention pyramids in North America to most people they will only think of the 30 storey hotel and casino called 'The Luxor' in Las Vegas, Nevada.

The Luxor hotel & casino, Las Vegas, U.S.A.

However, it is not the only pyramid in North America. The biggest pyramid in the world is in North America. It lies in the ancient city of Cahokia, U.S.A. It covers more ground than any pyramid in Egypt. It was built by a civilization of native Americans. They are known as the Mississippians because they lived on the flood plains of the Mississippi river. They traded shells and copper. Between the 9th and 14th centuries it was the largest city in North America and it was approximately the size of  London, England at that period of time.

  Cahokia

The pyramids were similar to those found in Mexico. By the time of Colonial America and the arrival of the first white settlers in America the native Americans had abandoned them. Some homesteaders thought  that the pyramids were a nuisance and demolished some of them to make way for their farms. Some thought that they were not man-made pyramids but naturally occurring hills and therefore, they couldn't see why they should be preserved. In the 20th Century in order to try and save the pyramids conservationists sent a team of archeologists to investigate. They quickly proved that the mounds were man-made and they found many artifacts buried within the mounds. The archeologists found that the mounds had been built very skillfully using soil of different textures to ensure it's strength and proper drainage. Evidence was found that a great palace had once stood on the flat summit for the Cahokia Chief. The Mississippians believed that their leader (whom they called 'The Great Sun') was a living god and that he was the brother of the sun. Their Chief would from his palace each  day look over the village below and he would draw a line in the sky from East to West to show the sun which way to travel through the day.

Mound at Cahokia

Inside one the pyramids known as Mound 72 they found the burial site of a Mississippian Chief. He had been laid on a bed of shells and many sacrifices and arrow points were found all around him. As in the case of the Ancient Egyptians and the Maya the Mississippians had used the pyramids as burial sites for their rulers. It appears that because their land eventually lost it's fertility and they may have succumbed to disease from so many living so closely together in the city (approximately 120,000 residents) the Mississippians abandoned their city and their pyramids and eventually this great civilization died out.        

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