Events Calendar
January: Friends of Aztalan State Park sponsors its annual Board Meeting at the Hoard Museum, 401 Whitewater Ave, Fort Atkinson, WI. The meeting includes a dinner at a moderate price, Friends' business, and an archeological presentation.
Native American Garden: The Tom Davies Native American garden is an annual project supported by the Friends of Aztalan.
Sunday Tours 2:00-3:30pm: Guided tours every Sunday June through October, 2:00-3:30 pm.
May 17th Sunday 2:00pm: Spring Guided Tour of Aztalan State Park. Meet at the lower parking lot.
June 21st Sunday 6:00pm: From 6:00 pm to sunset, the park will have its annual summer solstice party with guest speaker Bill Iseminger of the Cahokia Mounds State Historic Site in Illinois. Bill will talk about the importance of the sun in the religion of the Mississippians and Aztalan people. The Friends of Aztalan State Park will provide food and refreshments
July 5th 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.
July 11th 1:PM Saturday: Native American artist, Karen Hartman will lead a workshop for kids. They will make Dream Catchers.
August 23rd 11:00am: Foods of Aztalan and potluck. 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.
October 2, 3, 4: Fall bus tour to Cahokia Mounds State Historic Site in St Louis. See pictures from our last tour to Cahokia.
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.
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
