Events Calendar
Aztalan Friends Annual Membership Dinner Jan 28th: Last summer, the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee conducted major archaeological excavations at Aztalan. Come hear Dr. John Richards discuss the results of the dig at the Friends of Aztalan State Park annual membership dinner meeting on Jan. 28, 2012 at the Hoard Museum, 401 Whitewater St., Fort Atkinson. Doors open at 5:30 PM and dinner will be served at 6:30. A short business meeting followed by guest speaker Dr. Richards will begin at 7:00. You are also invited to view the Hoard's addition to the superb ancient mounds exhibit that provides information for visiting three area mounds sites: Jefferson County Indian Mounds Park & Trail on Lake Koshkonong, Whitewater Effigy Mounds Preserve in Whitewater, and Aztalan.
The cost of dinner is $18 that will include Pork Tenderloin in Rosemary sauce, mashed potatoes and gravy, vegetables, rolls, cake, soft drinks and coffee. . Please make a reservation by Jan. 22 by contacting Friend's president Kurt Sampson at ksampson@wi.rr.com or (414) 405-4367 and sending a check for the dinner to Friends of Aztalan State Park, P.O. Box 855, Lake Mills, WI 53551. The general public is welcome to attend the event, and anyone wishing to skip dinner and just come to hear the presentation may do so at no charge.
Native American Garden: This will be the fifth year that the Friends will plant and are maintain the Tom Davies Memorial Native American garden at Aztalan State Park.
August: Friends of Aztalan annual picnic.
September: Indian Summerfest, on the Milwaukee Summerfest grounds, is a large annual Native American pow-wow with food, crafts, informative displays, and Native American dance. The Friends of Aztalan man a booth at this event to raise public awareness of Aztalan State Park.
Sept: At Madison's Willy Street Fair, the Friends of Aztalan will man a booth to raise awarness of the uniqueness of ancient Aztalan.
October: Annual Field Trip of local sites of interest.
This website was developed and is maintained by the Friends of Aztalan State Park. We invite you to learn about the Mississippian culture from the information presented here and the links to other Mississippian sites that we found of interest.
Friends of Aztalan State Park
P.O Box 855
Lake Mills, WI 53551
See the video, purchased by the Friends of Aztalan to raise awareness of the historical uniqueness of Aztalan, and funds for an on-site visitor's interpretive center.
Park photos by Dan Seurer: SLIDE SHOW
Aztalan State Park is 2 miles off I-94 at Lake Mills, 1 hour from Milwaukee or Madison. Slide show photos by Dan Seuer. Check out his website http://seurer-photography.com
Group tours can be arranged for adults and schools. Call Bob Birmingham at (608) 241-4958 or email birmi@sbcglobal.net for more information.
Tours every Sunday at 2:00, June - Sept: Free guided tours, weather permitting. Wisconsin State Park sticker required.
Historical Summary
Aztalan State Park is the site of a ceremonial and residential Native American town established in 1100 AD (approximately). This site has provided insights into ancient agriculture and gardening.
While people lived along the Crawfish River in Wisconsin's Jefferson County before 900 A.D., the Mississippians arrived at ancient Aztalan between 1050 and 1100AD. They established a heirarchal society that was culturally exotic for the area.
The Mississippian people built earthen pyramids used by the religious and ruling leaders. The largest Mississippian site is Cahokia, located near St. Louis. Aztalan is the most northern outpost.
The Aztalan people built three earthern pyramids and a protective stockade complete with guard towers. Two of the pyramids and sections of the stockade are reconstructed.
In 1837 Nathaniel Hyer mapped the site and, believing that it was built by people from the ancient Mexican city of Aztalan, named the Wisconsin site Aztalan. Though it is now known that the inhabitants were not from Mexico the name of the site was not changed.
The Book by Bob Birmingham, Executive Manager of Friends of Aztalan, former Wisconsin state archeologist and Lynne Goldstein of Michigan State University.
The charter of the Friends of Aztalan is to raise money to augment the state's budget for an Aztalan State Park Interpretive Center. In 2010 the Wisconsin Archeological Society sponsored a large office trailer as an interim interpretive center which provided information and books about the site and other related places of interest in the region.
Site designed/developed by Marifrances A Cataldi
1/1/2012
