 Between 45,000 & 12,000 BCE Paleo Indians migrate across
Bering Land Bridge
These peoples migrated along with herds of megafauna
(Mammoths, Mastodons, bison, etc)
 10,000 BCE – Paleo Indians reach Wisconsin

 Semi-nomadic. Followed mega-fauna seasonally
 Made stone tools and spear points
 Cached tools and frozen meat for later use, and to reduce the amount necessary to carry while moving

 With an atlatl, spear-thrower, Clovis spears could penetrate more than a foot into a mammoth

 In 1897, the Dosch family in Boaz, Wisconsin discovered a mammoth skeleton and Clovis spear points on their farm
 Clovis peoples lived in Wisconsin at the end of last Ice Age

 Clovis Period lasted from 10,000 BCE to 9,000 BCE
 Three hypotheses on why it ended
 Overkill Hypothesis:
Clovis peoples hunted the megafauna to extinction
 Younger-Dryas Cold Shock Hypothesis:
1500 years of cold temperatures ended Clovis culture
 Younger-Dryas Impact Hypothesis:
An impact, or near impact of a comet or meteor changed climates abruptly

 Hunter-gatherers, predominantly on the Great Plains, but remnants of Plano culture have been found on Atlantic and
Pacific coasts and as far north as the Northwest Territories

 Hunted bison antiquus , much larger than today's bison
 Preserved meat with berries and fats
 Also stampeded herds over cliffs or into corrals
 May have used circular teepees and earthen lodges

 Plano Period lasted from 7,000 BCE to 4,000 BCE
 Plano Period ends when bison antiquus is hunted to extinction and new culture emerges

Boreal Archaic Period
 Water vapor from melting glaciers created a greenhouse effect that sped up the process
 As the land warmed up, megafauna migrated north
 Boreal Archaic peoples began to hunt smaller animals

Boreal Archaic Culture
 Boreal Archaic peoples were semi-nomadic, moving through locations in cycle with the seasons
 Made greater use of stone tools, such as the adze
 Evidence of dugout canoes
 Also evidence of elaborate burial rituals

Boreal Archaic Culture
 Lasted from around 6000 BCE to about 4000 BCE
 Boreal period is considered to have ended with the appearance and use of copper artifacts

Old Copper Culture
 Lasted from around 4000 BCE to about 500 BCE
 Peoples mined copper along shores of Lake Superior
 Made tools, jewelry, etc from copper

Old Copper Culture
 Tools, spearpoints, fish hooks, etc

Old Copper Culture
 Copper Culture artifacts were mined in limited area,
Keweenaw Peninsula in modern Michigan
 Artifacts found in large area indicates existence of trade

Old Copper Culture
 Copper Cultures in Wisconsin performed elaborate burial rituals, indicating a degree of spiritualism
 Artifacts show extensive trade across continent
 In Eastern Wisconsin sites, archaeologists have found:
Freshwater clam shells from the Mississippi River
Whelk shells from Gulf of Mexico
Oconto County
Burial Site

Early Woodland Period
 500 BCE – 100 BCE
 Hunting and gathering. Wild plants: hickory nuts, blackberries wild rice, etc. Small game, fish and shellfish
 They did plant some crops such as squash, sunflowers, tubers and herbs

Early Woodland Period
 First North Americans we know that made pottery and other clay artifacts

Early Woodland Period
 Tools, jewelry, pipes, weapons, etc

Early Woodland Period
 Tee-Pees/Wigwams, covered with reeds/grass, hides
 As farming develops, settlements become permanent

Hopewell Period
 200 BCE to 500 CE
 Similar cultures spread across
Eastern United States
 Built Large Complex Mounds
Uncertain Purposes:
Burial, Astronomy, etc
 Extensive trade between different regions

Hopewell Period
 200 BCE to 500 CE
 Explosion of Art, Ritual & Ceremonial Architecture
 Elaborate burial customs
 Effigy Mounds in the shape of animals


Hopewell Period
There are several Hopewell era sites in Wisconsin
 Mostly in Southern and Southwestern Wisconsin
 Hopewell peoples came from Illinois and Ohio and lived alongside other tribes
 Nicholls Mound in Trempealeau


Hopewell Culture
Hopewell peoples settled on rivers and waterways
 They practiced agriculture: nuts, seeds & grasses
 They did make use of pottery
 Dwellings were round or oval, using posts and mats of reed or bark

Hopewell Period
 End of the Hopewell Period is not well understood
 Archaeological evidence suggests that Late
Woodland peoples moved away from great mounds and settled in large wood-walled villages
 Conflict between tribes?
 Over farming of land caused starvation?

Mississippian-Late Woodland
 400-500 CE until
European Contact in 1500-1700s
 Similar cultures stretched from
Mississippi to
Atlantic & from
Wisconsin to Mexico
 Extensive trade between regions

Mississippian-Late Woodland
 400-500 CE until European Contact in 1500-1700s
 Large plazas around two central mounds: one for ceremonial purposes, one for the “chief”’s residence
 Largest settlement near Cahokia in Illinois

Mississippian-Late Woodland
 Between 1000-1200 CE Cahokia had a population that varied between 10,000-40,000. Larger than
London, Paris and Rome at the time
 Culture was based on the cultivation of maize (corn)
 Cahokian society spread north into Wisconsin up the Mississippi and Rock River Valleys

Aztalan
 Mississippian peoples blended with descendants of older peoples.
 Major center at Aztalan on the Crawfish River

Aztalan
 Aztalan site discovered in
1830s near Lake Mills
 Village and mounds surrounded by log stockade
 Several archaeological digs there since

Aztalan
 Archaeologists believe Aztalan thrived between
900-1200 CE
 Site was abandoned; reasons unclear
 Stockade partially burned. War? Accident?

Late Woodlands: Mounds
 Dates uncertain
 Hopewell?
 Earlier?
 Mississippian?
 Blends of cultures?
 Most mounds in Wisconsin date after 500

Effigy Mounds: Waupaca County
 Sanders-Steiger Site: Fremont; Privately Owned
 NE Shore of Taylor Lake Mounds