Pre-1787

Aztalan Copper Maskettes, 1000-1200 AD. Courtesy: Milwaukee Public Museum

Indigenous Wisconsin / Aztalan / Pre-1787 / Object Histories / Ethnicity & Identity / Clothing, Apparel & Fashion / Everyday Life / Jefferson County / Region 7 - South Center

OBJECT HISTORY: Aztalan Copper Maskettes

Found at the Aztalan archaeological site in southeastern Wisconsin, these small copper artifacts were most likely used as ornate jewelry.[1] Specifically, Mississipian people likely wore the mask-shaped copper designs as earrings. Although Native Americans seldom used metal, they sometimes used metals from…

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December 18, 2020

Pre-1787 / La Farge / Education / Related Stories / Ethnicity & Identity / Vernon County / Nature & Environment / Region 6 - South West / A Dam Tower in the Kickapoo Valley Reserve

Wisconsin’s Ancient History in the Kickapoo Valley

If you look closely, the landscapes around us tell stories about the past. Sometimes in the curve of a road, a line of trees, or stretch of prairie careful observers can find evidence of the people and animals that used to call…

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September 24, 2020

A Cherokee weir similar to the one the people of Aztalan built, showing what it looked like 1000 years ago. Image courtesy of Western Carolina University's Digital Heritage Project.

Indigenous Wisconsin / Pre-1787 / Aztalan / Object Histories / Food & Cooking / Ethnicity & Identity / Jefferson County / Nature & Environment / Region 7 - South Center

OBJECT HISTORY: Aztalan Fishing Weir

Fishing can take a lot of patience. A person could sit with their fishing pole for hours before they get a bite! Fishing weirs are time-saving technologies built in the water to trap fish. This fishing weir was created by the people who lived in the Early Mississippian settlement, Aztalan, sometime between the 10th and…

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September 9, 2020

Brown County / Pre-1787 / Green Bay / Object Histories / Le Maire Sundial / Global Connections / Science & Medicine / Region 5 - Center East

OBJECT HISTORY: Le Maire Sundial

The Le Maire Sundial is a rare example of a mid-18th century French sundial (cadran solaire) compass (boussole). It was found near Green Bay in 1902 by a local antiquities collector, Frank Duchateau. The sundial is broken, missing its glass compass cover as well as the back of its gnomon holder. Located on the front surface,…

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March 9, 2019

An Ojibwe man and woman harvesting wild rice in 1966 near Ashland, WI. Image courtesy of the Wisconsin Historical Society, image ID 133699.

Industry / Broad History / Pre-1787 / Lake Koshkonong / Ethnicity & Identity / Related Stories / 1787-1848 / Jefferson County / 1848-1877 / Manufacturing & Trade / 1877-1900 / Nature & Environment / A Duck Decoy / 1900-1918 / 1918-1945 / Region 7 - South Center

When Lake Koshkonong was a Marsh

Maintaining practices like an annual visit to Lake Koshkanong to hunt and harvest food is an important way for indigenous knowledge and culture to be passed-on to the next generation.

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September 30, 2018

A trade blanket, with the "points" visible on the right side of the picture. Image courtesy of Ron Dennis.

Industry / Indigenous Wisconsin / Fur Trade / Home Furnishings / Pre-1787 / Object Histories / Clothing, Apparel & Fashion / 1787-1848 / Everyday Life / Global Connections / Manufacturing & Trade

OBJECT HISTORY: Trade Blanket

This blanket, ordinary though it may seem, tells the story of an important meeting of cultures that occurred in Wisconsin between 1634 and 1763. Not long after the explorer Jean Nicolet first set foot in Wisconsin, French traders saw an opportunity to make money by sending beaver furs back to Europe for use in stylish…

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September 10, 2018