Trempealeau Mounds
Trempealeau Platform Mounds Site (47Tr32) · Little Bluff Mounds
Early Mississippian (Stirling antecedent)·Cahokia Mississippian with Oneota interaction·🇺🇸 Wisconsin, Trempealeau County, United States
About
About Trempealeau Mounds
Northernmost Mississippian platform mound outlier (c.1050–1100 CE) on the Trempealeau Bluffs above the Mississippi River, built by Cahokia-expatriate or missionized Oneota within Oneota territory. Three rectangular platform mounds on Little Bluff (Mound 1: 40×30 m, 1.5 m high) with evidence of summit structures, pit features, and Mill Creek chert, Cahokia ceramics. Excavated by Mississippi Valley Archaeology Center and by Boszhardt-Pauketat-Benden 2010–11; represents short-lived Cahokian colony/mission 500 km north of Cahokia, abandoned within ~50 years. Only confirmed Cahokia-affiliated platform mounds north of Illinois.
Why it mattersOnly Cahokia-related platform mounds north of Illinois; tests Cahokia expansion, Oneota ethnogenesis and Mississippianization models.
Open questions
Mysteries & theories
Mysteries
- 01Why Cahokia established colony 500 km north then abruptly abandoned
- 02Degree of Oneota labor vs Cahokian colonists
Theories
- 01Short-lived proselytizing colony seeking Oneota resource bison/timber; failed due to climate and host resistance
Theories are interpretations, not findings. The seal above tells you how much scholarly weight the place carries.
History
How it came to be
- Built
- c.1050–1100 CE
- Period
- Early Mississippian (Stirling antecedent)
- Culture
- Cahokia Mississippian with Oneota interaction
- Builders
- Cahokia Mississippian (colonists) and Oneota hosts
- Purpose
- Mississippian mission/colonial platform center and long-distance exchange node
- Abandoned
- c.1100 CE (within 50 years)
- Rediscovered
- 1920s Nicholls Mound; platform group defined 1990s
- Excavation
- Partially excavated
On the ground
Structures & features
44.0081° N · 91.4425° W · 204 m · 2 mapped features
Mound 1 (Little Bluff main platform)
moundRectangular platform 40×30 m, 1.5 m high with Cahokia ceramics and wall-trench structure
44.0083° N · 91.4422° WMound 2 and 3 row
moundPaired smaller rectangular platforms aligned along bluff edge south of Mound 1
44.0078° N · 91.4430° W