Prior to the construction of the new stairway to the summit of Monks Mound at the Cahokia Mounds State Historic Site in 1998, Southern Illinois University--Edwardsville archaeologists discovered two large refuse pits at the base of the second flight of stairs. Associated artifacts include European items indicative of an early eighteenth-century occupation by the Cahokia, one of the subgroups of Illinois speakers. The deposits are contemporaneous with the River L'Abbe Mission that was located on the southwest corner of the first terrace. At the time of discovery, the well-preserved assemblages of animal and plant remains were hypothesized to have been the result of communal feasting events by the resident Cahokia Indians. Until this discovery, the historic Indian occupation associated with the River L'Abbe Mission had been the only documented component of the Illinois-speaking Cahokia (Walthall and Benchley 1987). Zooarchaeological and archaeobotanical analyses reveal details on subsistence, seasonality, and local habitats at the site and suggest that the deposits are more complex than originally anticipated. The data suggest that, whereas some special provisioning, elite meals, and/or ritualized feasting may be represented, the refuse pits also include food remains from daily domestic activities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]