Events Calendar
Annual Meeting, January 30th: The annual meeting starts with complimentary hospitality beer and wine at 5:30. Dinner, at 6:00, includes a salad, smoked pork loin, chicken marsala, California vegetable mix, buttered red potatoes, homemade dinner rolls, and sheet cake for $18. This meal is catered by the acclaimed Cap'ns of Jefferson and Ft. Atkinson. After the short annual meeting there will be a presentation about the Mississippian chunkey stone game. The meeting will be held at the The Hoard Museum in Fort Atkinson. Their Mystery of the Mounds exhibit will be opened for us. The public is invited!! Please RSVP by January 23rd by contacting Bob Birmingham at (608) 241-4958 or email birmi@sbcglobal.net.
The 2010 Friends of Aztalan calendar of events will be published soon. Please check back for details.
Native American Garden: We will support our annual Tom Davies Native American garden.
Summer Sunday Tours 2:00-3:30pm: There will be free guided tours. Wisconsin State Park sticker required.
June 21st: We will sponsor our annual annual summer solstice party.
July 1st Sunday: Aztalan Days is an annual event in Aztalan, Wi. The day includes continous tours of Aztalan State Park, admission to the town's Aztalan Museum, craft demonstrations, and a picnic which is known for its homemade pies.
August: Our annual Friends of Aztalan annual picnic. Taste foods of ancient Aztalan including the fruits of the Aztalan Native American garden.
September Indian Summerfest: In Milwaukee, a Native American pow-wow with food, crafts, and dance. Friends of Aztalan booth presents the park to the public.
September Artifact Day: State archeologists spend this day at Aztalan State Park to identify artifacts found by the public. Even if you have nothing to bring, it's fun to see what others have found.
Call Bob Birmingham at (608) 241-4958 or email birmi@sbcglobal.net for more information.
Aztalan State Park is 2 miles off I-94 at Lake Mills, 1 hour from Milwaukee or Madison.
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.
Click here to see remarkable pictures of the park, photos by Dan Seuer. Check out his other photos.
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.
Site designed/developed by Marifrances A Cataldi
5/16/2009
