Spanish Hill

The village of Aztalan was roughly 21 acres, surrounded by 12 foot high log stockade which was plastered with clay. Set at intervals of about 80 feet around the 4,400 foot circumference were block houses or towers. Remains of the three stockades around the village have been located, and it is not known whether they were all standing at the same time. Portions of a few logs, partially preserved by fire, show that such woods as tamarack, pine, and oak were used in the construction of the stockades. There was a good spring that still exixts today (but needs a pump that isn't so rusty!) People lived within and outside the stockade walls, corn fields and storage pits were located in both places. Cultural remains at the site show that the residents were in close contact with their neighbors, those people who presumably occupied the area before and during the occupation of Aztalan. Whatever their relationship, evidence indicates an abrupt end to the occupation of the site. This evidence includes charred remains of houses within the stockade, signaling the destruction of the site. Click here to see a short video.

A concentration of houses were uncovered in the area marked on the map above as #2. All the houses were either circular or rectangular in shape. Although no rows of houses were found, the dense grouping of structures suggests some planning. House construction began by setting wall posts. Wall posts were either driven into individual holes or placed within a trench dug to the size and shape of the house. The walls were then covered with plaster made of grasses and clay, called wattle and daub. When a house was burned, this mixture formed a distinctive red substance referred to as Aztalan brick. Roofs were made of bark or thatch. People lived in these houses all year round and many of the houses had entrances facing south, away from the harsh winter winds.

Inside the houses were pole frame beds, probably covered with tamarack boughs, deer skins, and furs. Fireplaces were located in the center of the house with a hole in the roof to release the smoke. Food such as corn, nuts, and seeds were stored in woven bags and placed in large pits inside the house. Meat and other perishables were probably stored outside the house where much of the cooking was done.

Aztalan Main Mound: This is actually a reconstructed mound, but still impressive all the same. (notice the two people on the very left walking towards the mound.) Click here to watch a video.

This whole complex was enclosed by huge palisaded walls, and this was the first mound that we looked at on our visit: Click here to see the video clip.

Man-made mounds are mounds that were made from the ground up and fall into four basic shapes or categories. Conical mounds, Effigy mounds, Temple Mounds and Geometric (usually linear) mounds.


Conical Mounds - look like pyramids except that they are rounded. They, just as the great pyramids, were built in honor of some special shaman or king, and are in fact burial sites for them as well.	Effigy Mounds - are shaped like animals and or spirits, and were believed to have ceremonial, navigational and calendar-like purposes. It is known that many of these align with the stars and could have been used to predict solstices, and even eclipses.


Temple Mounds - were mounds that either were man-made or "truncated" natural hills. Structures (many times temples) were placed upon the flattened top and were considered to be "living spaces" for shamans or their leaders and their families.	Geometric-Shaped Mounds - were usually circular, square, or linear in shape, and were thought to have alot of the same uses as the effigy mounds, but sometimes (like the Newark site above) were believed to be created together to build ceremonial & observatory inside large complexes.

To learn more about the people who built the mounds, use the following links: