Spirits of Earth: The Effigy Mound Landscape of Madison and the Four Lakes (Wisconsin Land and Life)

284 Pages·2009·12.04 MB·English

by  Robert A. Birmingham

Spirits of Earth
   
W L L
 
A A
Series Editor
S p i r i t s o f E a r t h
The Effigy Mound Landscape
of Madison and
the Four Lakes
Robert A. Birmingham
The University of Wisconsin Press
The University of Wisconsin Press
1930 Monroe Street, 3rd Floor
Madison, Wisconsin 53711-2059
uwpress.wisc.edu
3 Henrietta Street
London WC2E 8LU, England
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Copyright © 2010
The Board of Regents of the University of Wisconsin System
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or
transmitted, in any format or by any means, digital, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording,
or otherwise, or conveyed via the Internet or a Web site without written permission of the University
of Wisconsin Press, except in the case of brief quotations embedded in critical articles and reviews.
5 4 3 2 1
Printed in the United States of America
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Birmingham, Robert A.
Spirits of earth : the effigy mound landscape of Madison and
the Four Lakes / Robert A. Birmingham.
p. cm.—(Wisconsin land and life)
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-0-299-23264-1 (pbk.: alk. paper)
1. Mounds—Wisconsin—Madison Region. 2. Earthworks (Archaeology)—Wisconsin—
Madison Region. 3. Indians of North America—Wisconsin—Madison Region—Antiquities.
4. Madison Region (Wis.)—Antiquities. I. Title. II. Series: Wisconsin land and life.
E78.W8B575 2009
977.5´83—dc22
2009011631
Contents
List of Illustrations vii
Preface: Of Megaliths and Mounds, Recognizing
a World Wonder xiii
Acknowledgments xxiii
1
Spirits of Earth:An Introduction to
Effigy Mound Landscapes 3
2
The Ancient Mound Builders 42
3
The Effigy Mound Landscape of Madison
and the Four Lakes 92
4
Yahara Inlet and Mendota: Lake of Spirits 115
5
Wingra: Lake of Sacred Springs 147
v
Contents
6
Lake Monona: Let the Great Spirit Soar 161
7
Waubesa: Lake of Reeds and Snakes 176
8
Kegonsa and the Mouth of the Yahara: End
to Beginning 188
9
Landscapes of the Past, Questions and
Issues for the Future 201
Appendix: Selected Mound Sites Open to
the Public 207
Notes 215
Bibliography 229
Illustration Credits 241
Index 247
vi
Illustrations
Figure P.1. Poulnabrone megalith site in Ireland xv
Figure P.2. Nasca ground drawing in Peru xvi
Figure P.3. Let the Great Spirit Soar xviii
Figure 1.1. Mound group overlooking the Fox River 4
Figure 1.2. The effigy mound region 5
Figure 1.3. Charcoal drawings at Tainter Cave 7
Figure 1.4. Four Lakes mound district 8
Figure 1.5. Highly impressionistic 1836 map 9
Figure 1.6. Rock concentrations occasionally found in
effigy mounds 18
Figure 1.7. Village or camp once surrounded by mounds 19
Figure 1.8. Nitschke I and II mound groups 20
Figure 1.9. Heart lines in Wisconsin and other Indian art 23
Figure 1.10. Large earthen cross in southeastern Wisconsin 26
Figure 1.11. Thunderbirds in Indian art 27
Figure 1.12. Ancient iconography 28
Figure 1.13. Renderings of possible horned water spirits 30
Figure 1.14. Huge horned effigy mound 30
Figure 1.15. Great Serpent Mound of Ohio 31
Figure 1.16. Mound group overlooking Lake Winnebago 37
Figure 1.17. Nitschke I group 40
Figure 2.1. Glaciated landscape of western Dane County 44
Figure 2.2. Glacial Lake Yahara 46
vii
Illustrations
Figure 2.3. Paleo-Indian spear or projectile points 47
Figure 2.4. Ancient bison horns 48
Figure 2.5. Four Lakes sites 51
Figure 2.6. Early Woodland pottery 57
Figure 2.7. Conical mound at the Outlet site 58
Figure 2.8. Early Woodland clay pot 59
Figure 2.9. Middle Woodland pottery from Wisconsin 62
Figure 2.10. Outlet mound group 64
Figure 2.11. Hopewell knife 65
Figure 2.12. Farwell Point site 66
Figure 2.13. Fox Bluff site 67
Figure 2.14. Modeled climate charts 68
Figure 2.15. Partially unearthed fortified village stockade 74
Figure 2.16. Statz site 75
Figure 2.17. Madison cord impressed pottery 76
Figure 2.18. Cord impressed bird 77
Figure 2.19. Late Woodland collared pottery 78
Figure 2.20. Expansion of effigy mound building from
Outlet site 80
Figure 2.21. Platform mound and reconstructed stockade
at Aztalan State Park 82
Figure 2.22. Borchers Beach mound 86
Figure 2.23. Burned corn cob from the Skare site 89
Figure 2.24. Nineteenth-century Ho-Chunk camp 90
Figure 3.1. Charles E. Brown 93
Figure 3.2. Four Lakes mound district 95
Figure 3.3. Increase Lapham 96
Figure 3.4. Theodore H. Lewis 97
Figure 3.5. Charles E. Brown with mound survey volunteers 99
Figure 3.6. Map of Four Lakes mound groups 100
Figure 3.7. W. G. McLachlan 101
Figure 3.8. Volunteers working under the direction of
Charles Brown 103
Figure 3.9. Map of Four Lakes mound sites 107
Figure 3.10. Mound forms of the Four Lakes Mound District 110
Figure 3.11. Goose mounds in the Four Lakes Mound District 112
Figure 4.1. Mounds of Lake Mendota 116
viii
Illustrations
Figure 4.2. Eagle Heights mound group 119
Figure 4.3. Halvorson or Yahara Heights mound group 120
Figure 4.4. Morris Park II mound group 120
Figure 4.5. Large mound at Morris Park 121
Figure 4.6. Map of Farwell Point mounds 122
Figure 4.7. Massive tailless effigy at Farwell Point 123
Figure 4.8. Curve-tailed effigy mound on the grounds of
the Mendota Mental Health Institute 124
Figure 4.9. Mendota State Hospital mound group 125
Figure 4.10. Large eagle mounds on the grounds of the
Mendota Mental Health Institute 125
Figure 4.11. Deer effigy 127
Figure 4.12. Forum of Origins 128
Figure 4.13. Woodward Shores group 128
Figure 4.14. Maple Bluff mound group 129
Figure 4.15. Fullers Woods mound group 130
Figure 4.16. Effigy that Brown called a frog but is probably
a bear 130
Figure 4.17. Burrows Park bird 131
Figure 4.18. Picnic Point mounds 133
Figure 4.19. Observatory Hill group 134
Figure 4.20. Two-tailed mound on Observatory Hill 134
Figure 4.21. Willow Creek mound group 135
Figure 4.22. Blackhawk Country Club mounds 136
Figure 4.23. Goose at the Blackhawk Country Club 137
Figure 4.24. Belle Fontaine spring and the Pheasant Branch
creek 139
Figure 4.25. Pheasant Branch and Pheasant Branch Grove
mound groups 139
Figure 4.26. Pheasant Branch Hill and Pheasant Branch Grove
groups 140
Figure 4.27. Morris Park I mound group 141
Figure 4.28. Kennedy Pond mound group 143
Figure 4.29. Big Cross mound group 144
Figure 4.30. Heim Fox mound 145
Figure 5.1. Lake Wingra mounds 148
Figure 5.2. Unusual Lake Wingra mound forms 149
ix