Mounds of Wisconsin (12/6/00)

Authors

• Harlan McKosatoFollow

Date of this Version

December 2000

Document Type

Article

Abstract

The archaeological record indicates that most ancient societies in the upper Midwest built mounds between 800 b.c. and 1200 a.d. More mounds were built in Wisconsin than in any other region of North America. Most impressive are the effigy mounds, huge earthworks sculpted into the shapes of birds, mammals, and other forms, not found anywhere else in the world in such concentrations. Could these mounds actually be cosmological maps that model ancient belief systems? Guests include forensic anthropologist Leslie Eisenberg of the State Historical Society of Wisconsin.