Why Wall Trenches?

Discussions of Mississippian architectural modes have dwelled too much on differentiating flexed-pole and rigidpost buildings, both of which were probably constructed throughout the Mississippian period (A.D. 1050–1350) in the greater Cahokia region. New evidence from recently excavated Richland Complex settlements suggests the innovation of a “curtain-wall construction technique” that, on the one hand, was based on a traditional interior truss structure and, on the other, permitted the prefabrication of exterior walls. Such a hybrid construction mode might have solved the immediate problem of new housing at late-eleventh-century Cahokia while adapting techniques familiar to local builders. Besides highlighting the importance of interior roof-support posts, our conclusion also means that greater attention to post-mold details is required using crosssectioning rather than post-scooping methods of excavation.