Whitewater Effigy Mounds - Whitewater, WI - Wikipedia Entries on Waymarking.com

From Wikipedia:
"The Effigy Mounds Park (also known as The Indian Mounds Park or as the Maples Mounds Group) is located on the west side of Whitewater, Wisconsin off of Indian Mounds Parkway and Wildwood Road. The site was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1991. It is a prehistoric, Native American ceremonial and burial site that dates between 200 and 1000AD, and in its relatively small space of 1.5 acres has one of the most diverse and unique collections of animal and geometric mounds in the United States. Located on the eastern bank of an old river bed, and among the park's thick native oak trees the Effigy Mounds once included a village community area with 30 circular huts, inhabited by the mound builders. The 12 effigy mounds (and possible 13th effigy mound) in the site are what survive this village today. Weather permitting, the site continues to be used for Native American ceremonial pow-wows. Entrance into the Effigy Mounds Park is free and open to the public daily."

From the Geoarcheology of Indian Mound Park, Whitewater web site:
"Indian Mounds Park in Whitewater also contains 11 conical, linear and animal shaped mounds that are part of the Maple Mills Mound Group (Figure 5). A rather different kind of mound known as the mink mound exists here. Although some believe it is not a mink but the remains of a turtle mound cut in half and placed on its side. Also, some researchers believe the mounds have special orientations due to astronomical alignment, such as cardinal directions or solstice points ( Birmingham, 2000). Are the mounds in Indian Mounds Park related to a water source as in Aztalan or Koshkonong? What happened to the people who built the effigy mounds? Did they die off? Some archeologists believe the Oneota may be the ancestors of these mound builders."