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Aztalan is characteristic of other known Middle Mississippian societies, especially Cahokia, but archaeologists don't know exactly why the Mississippians came to what is now known as Wisconsin. One hypothesis is that Aztalan served as a northern outpost in an attempt to gain political and ideological control of this region. Another hypothesis is that the Mississippians came to expand trade with local Late Woodland groups.
 Field Notes: |
One of the best-known examples of a Pfahlbau settlement is Robenhausen, located just east of Zurich, Switzerland. The inhabitants were largely sedentary agriculturalists who built their wattle-and-daub homes both near and on the lake, which provided for many of the settlements’ needs.
Around 800 A.D. Late Woodland Indian cultures in the Midwest made a shift to more extensive maize (corn) horticulture and by 1000 A.D. had organized a complex society referred to by archaeologists as Middle Mississippian. This distinct cultural name is derived from its development in the central part of the Mississippi River valley.
The Aztalan collection of the Milwaukee Public Museum is composed of over 3,600 archaeological artifacts primarily excavated and collected by Dr. Samuel A. Barrett in the field seasons of 1919, 1920, and 1932. This collection is the largest assemblage of cultural remains from a single North American archaeological site in the Milwaukee Public Museum.
For the most complete bibliography of Aztalan and related Mississippian material please refer to Robert A. Birmingham and Lynne G. Goldstein's book Aztalan: Mysteries of an Ancient Indian Town. Wisconsin Historical Society Press. Madison Wisconsin, 2006.
