Lizard Mound County Park

Lizard Mound County Park
2121 County Highway A, Town of Farmington

HISTORY

Lizard Mound Park was established in 1950. It is named for its most outstanding Indian mound shaped like a gigantic lizard. Lizard Mound County Park consists of 28 fine examples of effigy mounds. It is an unusually beautiful group of mounds, and one is especially impressed with the prominent height and careful construction of each mound. The majority of the mounds rise three to four feet above the surrounding ground level.

Indians we now know as the Effigy Mound Builders lived in Wisconsin and bordering states between A.D. 500 and A.D. 1000. These Indians built burial mounds shaped like mammals, reptiles, birds and other creatures both real and mythical. They also constructed conical, oval and linear mounds. The custom of building effigy burial mounds died out about 1000 years ago; it was a custom unique to this general area. Unfortunately, very little else is known about the Mound Indians. Even Indians who lived in Wisconsin when the first white men arrived didn’t know why, or by whom, the mounds were built.

Effigy mounds are found mostly in central and southern Wisconsin. Hundreds of the mounds were destroyed by early settlers who didn’t know what they were. Constant cultivation of the land eliminated all traces of most of the mounds. It is estimated that Wisconsin had at least 5,000 effigy mounds when the white settlers first arrived.

The earliest data concerning the mounds in the area of Lizard Mound County Park was in the form of a sketch map resulting from field investigations made by Professor Julius L. Torney of Milwaukee in 1883. In his sketch of the mound group, Professor Torney illustrated a total of 47 Indian mounds. He also indicated that a number of the earth works had been destroyed prior to the time that he drew his map. The original group probably consisted of at least 60 mounds, including many of the well known effigy shapes.

Archeological explorations were conducted in 1960. Exploration of the effigy mounds has revealed that the dead were placed in pits and the effigy mounds were built over the pits. Artifacts such as clay pots, projectile points, pipes, bone harpoons and beads were sometimes placed with the dead. It has been speculated that the shapes of the mounds had a religious or clan significance, but no one really knows for sure.

Excavations of Effigy Mound Builders’ village sites indicated they lived in small nomadic groups, hunted, fished, gathered fruits and nuts, fashioned tools of stone, wood, bone and copper, made pottery and may have been the first people in Wisconsin to use the bow and arrow.

No other group of mounds in Wisconsin is so well preserved, so diversified in form, or exhibits such outstanding examples of the prehistoric art of mound construction. This park is an important monument to one of Wisconsin’s most interesting prehistoric Indian cultures. The park was acquired from the State of Wisconsin in 1986.

LIZARD MOUND NATURE TRAIL

Lizard Mound County Park provides a self-guided anthropological nature trail that winds around more than 20 well preserved Effigy Mounds. Trail markers reveal the vast history of the extinct culture that built these unique features. This intriguing site is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

Bird Effigy at Lizard Mound County Park

Archaeology and past civilizations. These words usually conjure up images of spectacular architecture and elaborate artifacts discovered in exotic, foreign countries. However, we have a rich heritage of our own in Wisconsin that few people know much about. One of the most distinctive of all of the past cultures that once lived here is a culture that archaeologists call Effigy Mound. The Effigy Mound Culture was responsible for the construction of thousands of mounds in Wisconsin and adjacent portions of Iowa, Illinois, and Minnesota between about A.D. 400 and A.D. 1200 (800-1600 years ago). These Indians built burial mounds shaped like mannals, reptiles, birds and other creatures both real and mythical. They also constructed conical, oval and linear mounds. The custom of building effigy burial mounds died out about 1000 years ago; it was a custom unique to this general area. Unfortunately, very little else is known about the Mound Indians. Even Indians who lived in Wisconsin when the first white men arrived didn’t know why, or by whom, the mounds were built.

Effigy mounds are found mostly in central and southern Wisconsin. Over the past 200 years, urban expansion and cultivation have destroyed most of the effigy mounds that once dotted Wisconsin’s landscape. Hundreds of the mounds were destroyed by early settlers who didn’t know what they were. Constant cultivation of the land eliminated all traces of most of the mounds. It is estimated that Wisconsin had at least 5,000 effigy mounds when the white settlers first arrived. Fortunately, Lizard Mound Park, in Washington County near West Bend, preserves one of the largest and most diverse groups of these prehistoric monuments for your enjoyment.

Archaeological explorations were conducted in 1960. Several prehistoric cultures built mounds. However, only this culture built "effigies" or mounds shaped like birds and animals, as well as the more common conical (round) and linear (cigar-shaped) forms. They constructed these earthworks in groups ranging from two or three mounds to over 100 mounds. We are still uncertain why mounds were constructed. Exploration of the effigy mounds has revealed that the dead were placed in pits and the effigy mounds were built over the pits. Several mounds in any group may contain one or more burials. Artifacts such as clay pots, projectile points, pipes, bone harpoons and beads were sometimes placed with the dead. It has been speculated that the shapes of the mounds had a religious or clan significance, but no one really knows for sure. However, effigy mounds often do not contain artifacts or burials, suggesting that they probably stood for something by themselves. Most recently, the mounds have been interpreted as representing territory markers or seasonal meeting places. The animal shaped mounds may have represented clan totems or family group symbols. Other recent work suggests that at least some of these mounds are oriented to lunar and solar phenomena like winter and summer solstices.

What do we know about the people who built the mounds? We know that they made pottery and pipes of clay. Decoration on their pottery is evidence of their skills at twining and weaving. Items they created of stone, antler, bone, wood, and copper were used for woodworking and leathercraft. The tools and weapons they made indicate that they survived by hunting, fishing, and gathering in a forest edge/wetland environment. They probably supplemented their diets with gardening and traded with other groups for things they couldn’t obtain locally.

Excavations of Effigy Mound Builders’ village sites indicated they lived in small nomadic groups, hunted, fished, gathered fruits and nuts, fashioned tools of stone, wood, bone and copper, made pottery and may have been the first people in Wisconsin to use the bow and arrow. Although they were not nomadic, the Effigy Mound Indians probably moved seasonally to take advantage of different wild plant and animal resources as they became available. They occupied small open capsites, and also more permanent rockshelters and villages. It appears that Effigy Mound Indians separated into small family units as food became scarce in late fall/winter, then formed larger groups again in the spring. The mounds are likely part of this settlement pattern.

No one knows what became of the mound builders. Some researchers believe that they may have been the ancestors of later Indians of this area. Others believe that they were driven out; or that they simply moved to a new area, and for some reason, stopped building mounds. We only know that there is no written or other record of anyone building effigy mounds in historic times, and no evidence that ties the mounds to any specific modern Indian tribe.

Although the mound builders disappeared long ago, thousand of people have had the opportunity to view the earthworks they left behind at Lizard Mound Park. No other group of mounds in Wisconsin is so well preserved, so diversified in form or exhibits such outstanding examples of the prehistoric art of mound construction. This park is an important monument to one of Wisconsin’s most interesting prehistoric Indian cultures.

The earliest data concerning the mounds in the area of Lizard Mound County Park was in the form of a sketch map resulting from field investigations made by Professor Julius L. Torney of Milwaukee in 1883. In his sketch of the mound group, Professor Tourney illustrated a total of 47 Indian mounds. He also indicated that a number of the earthworks had been destroyed prior to the time that he drew his map. The original group probably consisted of at least 60 mounds, including many of the well- known effigy shapes.

INFORMATION

The park (located north of West Bend on County Trunk "A", one mile east of State Highway 144) was established in 1950 to preserve one of the best Effigy Mound groups remaining in the state of Wisconsin. It is named for its most outstanding Indian mound, shaped like a gigantic lizard. Lizard Mound County Park consists of 26 fine examples of effigy mounds. It is an unusually beautiful group of mounds, and one is especially impressed with the prominent height and careful construction of each mound. Equally impressive are the variety of mound shapes found in the park. The mound group is in an exceptional state of preservation. Many of the mounds rise more than three feet above the ground surface.

RULES AND REGULATIONS

• No overnight camping or open fires, other than those contained in grills.
  
• No hunting or trapping
  
• Keep pets on leash
  
• Observe speed limit and other posted regulations
  
• Park open April 1 - November 15

A self-guided, mile long, nature trail winds around the mounds contained in the park. Markers along the trail provide information on the people that built the mounds, and on the uses they might have made of the plants and animals of this area. So bring a picnic lunch, and experience Wisconsin’s cultural heritage. The park is free to the public and it is open seven days a week, from April 1 through November 1.

DIRECTIONS

From Milwaukee/West Bend:

Hwy 45 to STH 33 exit, East on STH 33, 3.5 miles, North on Trenton Rd., 2 miles, East on Newark Dr., North on Indian Lore Rd., West on CTH A, 1 mile to entrance.

Location Map for Lizard Mound County Park