Deciphering the cosmology of artificial hills—from the Cahokia Mounds to the slag heaps of today.

The Cahokia Mounds are the remains of what can be considered the most sophisticated prehistoric indigenous civilization north of Mexico, and are found at the Cahokia Mounds State Historic Site, west of Collinsville, Illinois. The mounds are a dynamic example of how form in landscape takes on meaning. Following the currents of interpretation stemming from the historical architectural and anthropological senses of these mounds, scholars Jennifer Colten and Jesse Vogler explore how culture, nature, and form have been imbued on this storied landscape.