13342 Cty. Hwy. C | National or State Registers Record | Wisconsin Historical Society

National or State Registers Record

13342 Cty. Hwy. C

National or State Register of Historic Places
13342 Cty. Hwy. C | National or State Registers Record | Wisconsin Historical Society
NAMES
Historic Name:Wyalusing State Park Mounds Archaeological District
Reference Number:99001175
PROPERTY LOCATION
Location (Address):13342 Cty. Hwy. C
County:Grant
City/Village:
Township:Wyalusing
SUMMARY
Wyalusing State Park Mounds Archaeological District
13342 County Highway C, Town of Wyalusing, Grant County

The Wyalusing State Park mound district contains 21 mound groups with 69 individual mounds. It is estimated that they were built sometime during the Late Woodland era (650-1300 A.D.). These various mounds rest upon bluffs that overlook stunning views of the Mississippi and Wisconsin rivers within Wyalusing State Park, which was designated as a state park in 1917.

For thousands of years, mound-building was a fundamental religious and social activity for Native Americans across eastern North America. In Wisconsin, this tradition culminated during the late Woodland era, with the construction of thousands of effigy, conical and linear mounds, often placed at prominent locations on the landscape. While most mounds served as burial sites, the fact that some did not indicates that their construction served other functions for the people who built them. Researchers have hypothesized that mound sites such as these served as seasonal gathering places for social groups.

The Wyalusing mounds are dominated by conical and linear forms, with fewer animal forms. Counting both extant and destroyed mounds, Wyalusing once contained an estimated 134 mounds. It is estimated that about 80% of mounds in the state of Wisconsin have been destroyed. Because of its high number of surviving mounds, the Wyalusing State Park Mounds Archaeological District is one of the most intact and dense extant clusters of earthen mounds in the Midwest.

PROPERTY FEATURES
Period of Significance:0650-1300
Area of Significance:Archeology/Prehistoric
Area of Significance:Religion
Applicable Criteria:Information Potential
Applicable Criteria:Event
Historic Use:Religion: Ceremonial Site
Historic Use:Funerary: Graves/Burials
Architectural Style:No Style Listed
Resource Type:District
DESIGNATIONS
Historic Status:Listed in the National Register
Historic Status:Listed in the State Register
National Register Listing Date:09/21/1999
State Register Listing Date:07/16/1999
NUMBER OF RESOURCES WITHIN PROPERTY
Number of Contributing Buildings:0
Number of Contributing Sites:21
Number of Contributing Structures:0
Number of Contributing Objects:0
Number of Non-Contributing Sites:21
Number of Non-Contributing Structures:0
Number of Non-Contributing Objects:0
RECORD LOCATION
National Register and State Register of Historic Places, State Historic Preservation Office, Wisconsin Historical Society, Madison, Wisconsin

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