Sheer bluffs, deep streams, and fertile valleys are all hallmarks of the Driftless Region of western Wisconsin. Encompassing some 24,000 square miles, the Driftless is a geological marvel, a landscape that the glaciers of the last Ice Age never scoured. It is free of glacial drift—the rocks and sediments left behind in much of North America, where ice sheets once rose more than a mile high. The region was a refuge from the glaciers that dominated nearby areas until some 12,000 years ago, and its native flora and fauna remain distinct today. The Driftless is at the heart of the traditional homeland of the Hoocak, or Ho-Chunk, people, sometimes called the Winnebago by their Algonquian neighbors.
Become a Digital Subscriber Today
Get full access to all content on the ARCHAEOLOGY website and our PDF archive going back to the first publication in March 1948.
Already a Subscriber? Sign In
