Aztalan — Aztalan
Aztalan wackybadger, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY SA 2.0

Site · United States

Aztalan

Mississippian, Cahokia, 1050–1250 CE

Aztalan is a fortified Mississippian outpost on the Crawfish River in southern Wisconsin, occupied about 1050 to 1250 by people connected to Cahokia and living among Late Woodland neighbours. Its palisades and platform mounds have been partly reconstructed.

CountryUnited States
State / provinceWisconsin
Dates1050–1250 CE
StatusState Park and National Historic Landmark
Managed byWisconsin Department of Natural Resources
AccessOpen to the public with reconstructed palisade and mounds
Coordinates43.066, -88.862 (public site)

What was found

Excavations recovered shell-tempered Cahokia-style pottery alongside local Late Woodland collared wares, Cahokia and Madison points, Mill Creek hoes, copper and the 'princess' burial wrapped in shell beads. Palisade lines were traced.

Rules

Nothing may be collected, dug, moved or removed at Aztalan; it is a protected archaeological site managed by Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources, and taking artifacts, stones or samples is an offence. Federal, state and tribal law, including ARPA and NAGPRA where applicable, protect the site and its burials. This article is for study and context only and is not a collecting locality.

Elsewhere

Cite this article

Stratum Strata. "Aztalan" (Site). Stratum Strata pack 2026.09, as of 2026-09-21. https://stratum.black/strata/sites/aztalan. Accessed 2026-09-21.

@misc{stratum-aztalan,
  title        = {Aztalan},
  author       = {{Stratum Strata}},
  howpublished = {\url{https://stratum.black/strata/sites/aztalan}},
  year         = {2026},
  note         = {Site article, Stratum Strata pack 2026.09, as of 2026-09-21; sources: stratum, commons. Accessed 2026-09-21.}
}

Citations carry the pack version and the article's as-of date so they resolve to the same text later. The facts themselves belong to the sources listed below; cite those for the science.

Sources for this article: Stratum editorial (Stratum editorial);Wikimedia Commons (CC-BY-4.0). As of 2026-09-21; Strata pack 2026.09. Data reproduced under the licences shown; text in Stratum's own words unless a section names its source.

Found an error? Write to drew@tyr.ac with the article id site:aztalan.

Stratum is the inventory, provenance and certificate system for fossil, mineral and shell collections. Strata is its open reference: every fact cites its source, and the credits page lists each one with its licence.