A soft wind rustles the maturing maple, basswood and oak leaves overhead. A hidden Red-eyed Vireo sings, incessantly, high in the canopy and the flutey 'tut, tut, oh-lay-oh-lee' of a Wood Thrush dominates the stillness. I'm drawn forward to follow the narrow dirt path into the deeply shaded forest interior to encounter a momentous prehistoric cultural adventure.
I don't get far when I am stopped in sudden stunned silence and stand in a warm dappled sun patch on the quiet path facing two very large, burly sprawling panthers lying on the shadowy forest floor directly in front of me.
I immediately know that I will leave this sacred place with many more questions than answers.
About the Ho-Chunk Nation
The twin panthers belong to a tight grouping of 28 well preserved effigy mounds at this ancient Native American site. Almost all effigy mounds are located in the southern two-thirds of Wisconsin with others found in the bordering states of southeastern Minnesota, eastern Iowa, and northern Illinois.
Lizard Mound County Park was first sketched and mapped by Professor Julius Torney of Milwaukee in 1883. He illustrated a total of 47 earthworks and believed the site had probably consisted of at least 60 mounds before their destruction by European settlers that unknowingly plowed them asunder.
Archaeologists estimate there were at least 5,000 effigy mounds before the settlers arrived. Hundreds are now gone from history and memory.
The earliest mounds date back to around 500 BC and were conical, oval or round and filled with ritual burials. About 700 AD, Native Americans began to build elaborate effigy mounds in the shape of finely sculptured animals and mythical birds, bears, panthers, water spirits and others.
I embrace the simple symmetry of the early conical mounds.
Effigy Mound Culture
The effigy builders didn't bury their loved ones in extended positions. Instead, they favored flexed curled burials, bone bundle burials and cremation. The burials were placed in shallow pits or at mound floor level and the monument was built over them.
An innocent badger has burrowed a den in this graceful 4-foot high and 80-foot long linear earthwork. A bit of restoration repair will be needed once the new occupant moves on. I have to agree with the badger, it is a nice view.
Single mounds sometimes contain several individual burials, with a mix of burial types. The tall, long linear mounds are powerful attention grabbers.
The art of effigy mound building ended suddenly, about 1,000 AD. By the time the first Europeans arrived no one they asked, knew or remembered why or who had built them. Yet, oral stories were still remembered by the elders.
In 1960, archaeologists excavated and explored the mystery of these mounds and found crafted stone tools and projectile points, delicately decorated clay pots, carved beads and shaved bone harpooned fishhooks placed within some of the burials.
I fall into wonderment walking in this woods. It's filled with bird song, smells of basswood flowers and oldness.
Great mounded birds spread their wings wide in the distance and flourish magnificent 80-foot tails.
Other Wisconsin Effigy Mounds
Other smaller birds spread their tails wider, as if landing on a tiny patch of earth.
Some panthers curl their tails in the hunt, waiting. I can feel their twitching in my heart.
Two panthers rest together, nose to nose, with long straight tails. I want to believe they are a mated pair and will sleep together here for eternity.
Some smaller panthers flex their front and rear paws like mewing kits.
I am overwhelmed today walking among this vital and preserved prehistoric story. Sometimes, it's good for the soul to feel overwhelmed by the past, as a reminder of how small we truly are on this earth.
The muscled lizard is sprawled on the forest floor with all four legs outstretched as if basking on a rock and it gives this important site its name.
Lizard Mound.
There are lovely bubbling springs nearby and I thank you for joining me on this gentle hike into the past to explore a bit of Wisconsin's prehistory.
I feel comforted, settled and lifted in spirit.
Lizard Mound Map