Aetna Earthworks

The Aetna Earthworks, also known as the Missaukee Earthworks or Missaukee Mounds,[2] is an archaeological site consisting of a pair of circular earthworks designated 20MA11 and 20MA12 located in Aetna Township, Missaukee County, Michigan. The layout of the site is thought to represent the Midewiwin origin tale of Bear's Journey.[3] It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1973.[1]

Aetna Earthworks
Earthworks c. 1923. Walter Hinsdale standing on tree crossing "moat", Alexander Grant Ruthven standing below
LocationAetna Township, Missaukee County, Michigan
Area2 acres
NRHP reference No.73002157[1]
Added to NRHPMarch 30, 1973

Description

The Aetna Earthworks consists of two circular ditch-and-bank structures located atop a glacial esker and spaced 650 metres (2,130 ft) apart on an east-west line.[2] The western structure, designated 20MA11, measures 48 metres (157 ft) in diameter, while the eastern structure, designated 20MA12, measures 53 metres (174 ft) in diameter. The eastern earthwork is both taller and wider than the western one.[2] Each earthwork originally had two entrances, one of which roughly aligns with the other earthwork and the other of which faces roughly north-northwest.[3]

In addition, the site includes two conical burial mounds,[3] one north of the eastern earthwork and one south of the western earthwork, and multiple scattered storage pits.[2] The layout of the site bears a striking resemblance to the travels described in the Midewiwin origin tale of Bear's Journey, and it is thought that the site was used for rituals connected to the story.[3]

History

The Aetna Earthworks were likely constructed around 1200 +/- 100 AD.[4]

The land around the Aetna Earthworks was donated to the University of Michigan in 1922.[5] Excavations were conducted by staff from the University Museum in 1925-26, and by staff from Michigan State University in 1965.[3] Further excavations were carried out in the 2000s.[3]

References
  1. "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. July 9, 2010.
  2. Meghan C L Howey (2012), Mound Builders and Monument Makers of the Northern Great Lakes, 1200-1600, University of Oklahoma Press, pp. 113–120, ISBN 9780806188058
  3. Meghan C. L. Howey; John M. O'Shea (April 2006), "Bear's Journey and the Study of Ritual in Archaeology", American Antiquity, Society for American Archaeology, 71 (2): 261–282, doi:10.2307/40035905, JSTOR 40035905
  4. Clare McHale Milner; John M. O'Shea (1998), Robert C. Mainfort; Lynne P. Sullivan (eds.), "The Socioeconomic Role of Late Woodland Enclosures in Northern Lower Michigan", Ancient Earthen Enclosures of the Eastern Woodlands, University Press of Florida, ISBN 9780813015927
  5. University of Michigan Museum of Zoology (1923), Report of the Director of the Museum of Zoology to the Board of Regents from July 1, 1922 to June 30, 1923, pp. 8–9

Further reading
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