Trempealeau’s Little Bluff: An Early Cahokian Terraformed Landmark in the Upper Mississippi Valley

Archaeological and geomorphological investigations of Little Bluff (47Tr32), in Trempealeau, Wisconsin, reveal how and, possibly, why this loess-capped sandstone ridge spur was anthropogenically altered in the mid-eleventh century A.D. Project excavation units and trenches dug in 2010–2011 revealed the timing, rate of completion, structure, symmetry, and orientation of the construction. In addition to delineating construction details and associated archaeological features, our research suggests that Cahokians, by sculpting and rebuilding this ridge spur, were actively positioning themselves vis-à-vis the wider Mississippi Valley landscape, if not the cosmos generally.