Aztalan, Lake Mills,
Wisconsin. The founders of this village apparently moved
north from Cahokia about A.D. 1050. Covering
an area of 21 acres, Aztalan contained two large platform mounds.
The larger one, built in two steps, was surmounted by a structure,
either a temple or a chief's house. This mound is in the southwest
comer of the site, rather than in the center.
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This mound, a smaller one, is in
the northwest corner of the site. The reconstructed stockade
surrounded the site, and within it were the remains of houses,
both circular and rectangular. |
The twelve foot high stockade, rebuilt
three times, was made of tamarack, pine and oak. Remains
of corn fields have been found within the stockade, as have
shell hoes. The inhabitants of Aztalan also gathered shellfish
from the nearby Rock River and hunted and fished. Split human
bones in cooking areas and garbage pits indicates that these
people practiced cannibalism, probably eating their Woodland
neighbors. |
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Angel Site, Evansville, Indiana.
Mound A. This truncated mound in the center of the town is
644 feet long, 415 feet wide, and 44 feet high. Like Monk's
Mound it is oriented in a north south direction. Like other
Mississippian platform mounds, the top of Mound A shows traces
of a large structure. On the southeast comer, not visible
here because of the vegetation, is a high conical offset,
on top of which is a small flat area. It is possible that
this was used as an observation post for the sunrise. |
Angel Site. Mound F.
This is a reconstruction of a building, dated 1430 + 100
years, which was either a temple or a dwelling. Made of wattle
and daub, its inner and outer walls were plastered. Around
the four sides was a long bench or banquette. This building
shows evidence of having been burned. The mound itself was
built in two different stages. |
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Replica of a fluorite
figurine from the southeast comer of Mound F. It was placed
in a pit dug into the top of the mound. The fluorite comes
from either Southern Illinois or Kentucky. Angel Mounds Museum;
original at Indiana University, Bloomington. |
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