Aztalan State Park
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Aztalan
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Steps on the eastern face of the largest platform mound, Aztalan State Park
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| Location | Near Lake Mills on WI 89, Jefferson County, Wisconsin, USA |
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| Nearest city | Lake Mills, Wisconsin |
| Coordinates | 43°03′56″N 88°51′46″W / 43.065556°N 88.862884°WCoordinates: 43°03′56″N 88°51′46″W / 43.065556°N 88.862884°W |
| NRHP Reference # | 66000022 |
| Significant dates | |
| Added to NRHP | October 15, 1966 |
| Designated NHL | July 19, 1964 |
Aztalan State Park is a Wisconsin state park in the Town of Aztalan, Jefferson County, Wisconsin at latitude N 43° 4' and longitude W 88° 52'. Established in 1952, it was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1964 and added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1966. The park covers 172 acres (0.7 km2 or 70 ha) along the Crawfish River.
Aztalan is the site of an ancient Mississippian culture settlement that flourished during the 10th to 13th centuries. The indigenous people constructed massive earthwork mounds for religious and political purposes. They were part of a widespread culture with important settlements throughout the Mississippi River valley and its tributaries. Their trading network extended from the Great Lakes to the Gulf Coast, and into the southeast of the present-day United States.
Aztalan was first settled around 900 by a Native American culture known as the Middle Mississippian Tradition. The chief center of a Middle Mississippian settlement is at Cahokia, in present-day Illinois, a city that at its peak had 20,000-30,000 people. This was not surpassed by Europeans in North America until after 1800. These settlements are characterized by the construction of mounds, stockades, and houses, by decorated Mississippian culture pottery and agricultural practices. There are also elements of the Woodland culture found here.
The residents had long-distance trading relationships with other settlements, linked by their use of the rivers for transportation. For example, items found at the settlement include copper from Michigan's Upper Peninsula, shells from the coast of the Gulf of Mexico, and stone such as Mill Creek chert from other areas of the Midwest.
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