Prof. Lynne Goldstein, Professor & Director, Campus Archaeology and Department of Anthropology at Michigan State University

There is ample evidence of past Native American communities significantly altering their landscape by building mounds, creating agricultural fields, and building substantial walls. One such site is Aztalan, in Jefferson County, Wisconsin. Aztalan, attributed archaeologically to the Mississippian culture, is located between the current Wisconsin cities of Madison and Milwaukee, and was occupied from about AD 1000-1400. Over a series of years, Goldstein has conducted research at and round the site, most recently documenting how the people at Aztalan went beyond building mounds - they actively sculpted the landscape and built mounds with reflective surfaces used for effective performances.