Wisconsin’s ancient skull-crackers
The cannibals of Aztalan, Wis., are worth a detour if you’re ever driving west from Milwaukee, said John Bordsen in the Charlotte, N.C., Observer. Centuries ago, a city stood on the Crawfish River there, and its only visible remains nestle today within a serene little park. You’ll find no interpretive ranger at Aztalan State Park, just two large flat-topped mounds of grass-covered earth and nine smaller siblings. Discovered in 1836, the mounds were first excavated in 1919, when charred, butchered human skulls were found in the ancient fire pits. Anthropologists speculate that the people known as Mississippians, whose civilization collapsed around A.D. 1200, practiced cannibalism to show disdain for enemies. Mulling that won’t put you in a mood for dinner. Yet the park’s picnic tables are hard to resist at day’s end—“especially when the clouds are streaked with red and an autumn mist begins to roll up along the river.”
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