Spirits of Earth: The Effigy Mound Landscape of Madison and the Four Lakes

by Robert A. Birmingham

Overview

Between A.D. 700 and 1100 Native Americans built more effigy mounds in Wisconsin than anywhere else in North America, with an estimated 1,300 mounds—including the world’s largest known bird effigy—at the center of effigy-building culture in and around Madison, Wisconsin. These huge earthworks, sculpted in the shape of birds, mammals, and other figures, have aroused curiosity for generations and together comprise a vast effigy mound ceremonial landscape. Farming and industrialization destroyed most of these mounds, leaving the mysteries of who built them and why they were made. The remaining mounds are protected today and many can be visited.   explores the cultural, historical, and ceremonial meanings of the mounds in an informative, abundantly illustrated book and guide.
 
Finalist, Social Science, Midwest Book Awards

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780299232641
Publisher:	University of Wisconsin Press
Publication date:	12/18/2009
Series:	Wisconsin Land and Life
Edition description:	1
Pages:	274
Sales rank:	302,684
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 8.90(h) x 1.00(d)

About the Author

Robert A. Birmingham served as Wisconsin State Archaeologist at the Wisconsin Historical Society for fifteen years. He now teaches at the University of Wisconsin-Waukesha and writes from his home in Madison. He is coauthor, with Leslie E. Eisenberg, of Indian Mounds of Wisconsin (awarded the Elizabeth A. Steinberg Prize), and, with Lynn G. Goldstein, of Aztalan: Mysteries of an Ancient Indian Town.

Table of 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

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

Editorial Reviews

The most comprehensive book that any reader can find on the earthworks of prehistoric mound-building cultures in a heartland area of effigy mound construction. A welcome addition to the literature of Native America.”—Robert L. Hall, author of An Archaeology of the Soul: North American Indian Belief and Ritual

“[A] beautifully put together elaboration of the Native American effigy earthworks constructed between 700 and 1100 A.D. It interprets the mounds and also acts as a tourist guide to these memorable religious artifacts.”—Hudson Star-Observer

“Draws the reader past technical jargon and into a world where expressions of cosmology, religion, and ideology have most often been construed by outsiders. [Birmingham] guides the reader through different interpretations of why effigy mounds were built, what they may have meant, and how they may have served the cultures who constructed them.”—Illinois Archaeology

From the Publisher