The Pyramids of Rock Lake
An artist’s impression of the pyramids under Rock Lake. Photo: JaySea Archaeology
The native Winnebago people spoke of a sunken village in Rock Lake, Wisconsin. This was dismissed as a legend until two duck hunters spotted pyramids under the water during a drought in the early 1900s.
Where are the Pyramids of Rock Lake?
A map showing the location of Rock Lake, Wisconsin.
Rock Lake is located in south central Wisconsin, in Jefferson County, around 20 miles east of Madison. It spans over 1365 acres and boasts a maximum depth of 60 feet.
Rock Lake is most famous for its underwater rock piles frequently claimed to be pyramids built by the Mississippian culture at a time when water levels were much lower. These pyramids are found throughout the lake, deep beneath the surface.
The Native American Legend of the Sunken Village under Rock Lake
According to local lore, there were supposed to have been "stone tepees" that were once visible above the surface of Rock Lake but later sank into its depths. This legend was reportedly shared by Native Americans with early settlers of Lake Mills in the 1840s.
Interestingly, historical accounts from that time do not mention these legends or any stone structures on the lake's islets. It is possible that this information was transmitted orally and therefore not recorded in written accounts.
Investigations into the Pyramids Under Rock Lake
Two duck hunters were the first to discover the Pyramids in modern times. They spotted the massive pyramidal building during a water-clarifying drought at the beginning of the 20th century, while peering over the side of their boat in Rock Lake.
Unfortunately, declining sub-surface visibility due to pollution has led to controversy surrounding the sunken structure ever since.
On April 11, 1936, Dr. Fayette Morgan, a prominent dentist in the town and an early civilian pilot in Wisconsin, became the first person to observe Rock Lake from an aerial viewpoint. While flying his bi-plane at an altitude of 500 feet, he noticed two rectangular buildings on the lake bed near its center.
After spotting the two rectangular buildings, Dr. Morgan made several passes to observe their dimensions and estimated them to be over 100 feet each. He landed to refuel and quickly returned home to get his camera. Unfortunately, when he came back to the lake, the objects had disappeared due to the fading light.
Despite multiple attempts to photograph or rediscover the structures from the air, it wasn't until 1940 that local pilot Armand Vandre and his observer Elmer Wollin spotted them again. But this time, they saw something entirely new - a massive triangular formation with a pair of black circles side by side near its apex. It was perfectly centered and pointed due north, lying under less than 20 feet of water.
The Structures Under Rock Lake
There are thought to be at least ten structures submerged in Rock Lake, with two of them being mapped and photographed by skin divers.
Structure no.1, which has been dubbed the Limnatis Pyramid, has a base width of 60 feet, a length of about 100 feet, and a height of 18 feet, although only about 10 feet protrude from the silt and mud. It is a truncated pyramid, built largely out of round, black stones. On the truncated top, the stones are squarish. Some areas look like they could be the remains of a plaster coating.
According to Vandre and Wollin, each side of the pyramid's equal sides measured around 300 feet in length. They also spotted a small, narrow sunken island northeast of the triangle, which was roughly 1,500 feet long and 400 feet across. But the most surprising discovery was a straight line leading from the southeastern shore underwater, toward the point of the pyramid.
When Frank Joseph shared this sighting with Lloyd Hornbostel, a geologist from the area, he suggested that the line could be the remains of an extensive stone canal that once connected Rock Lake with Aztalan, located about three miles away.
Possible Explanations for the Pyramids at Rock Lake
Some believe that the structures under Rock Lake were built buy the residents of Aztalan, an ancient city in the area.
Aztalan, now a 21-acre archaeological park, contains two earthen temple mounds called the Pyramids of the Sun and Moon, partially enclosed by a stockaded wall. During its peak in the late 13th century, the ceremonial center was twice its current size, with three concentric walls and watch-towers surrounding a trio of pyramidal earthworks, each topped with a wooden shrine.
The site dates back to the 3rd century B.C., although it belonged to the Upper Mississippian Culture during its final stage, beginning around 1100 A.D. At its peak, the population of Aztalan was estimated to be around 20,000 people, led by astronomer-priests who used their pyramids to calculate various celestial phenomena such as the winter solstice, phases of the moon, and positions of Venus.
Around A.D. 1320, the residents of Aztalan set fire to their city and abandoned it. According to oral tradition passed down by the Winnebago people, they fled south. Interestingly, their migration occurred at the same time as the rise of the Aztec state in the Valley of Mexico.
Frank Joseph thinks that the pyramids under Rock Lake are burial mounds of men who worked the copper mines of Michigan’s Upper Peninsula from 3000 B.C. to 1200 B.C.
Charles E. Brown, the director of the Wisconsin Historical Society Museum in 1936, believed the mounds could have been created by the Finch gang. The Finch gang were a family of horse thieves and bandits living in the area before Wisconsin became a state. Brown believed they may have created the mounds as a way of hiding their loot.
Scepticism about the Rock Lake Pyramids
Ben Whitcomb claimed in The Lost Pyramids of Rock Lake, Skin Diver Magazine Article in January 1970 that “The pyramids are illogical. They shouldn’t be there. They would be too old, in a place where no person could have built them, so logically they can’t exist.”
JC from JaySea Archaeology believes that the pyramids under Rock Lake are an archaeological fantasy perpetrated by Frank Joseph Collins, who he claims was an ex-nazi, with shadowy motives.
With advances in technology it is strange that no one has come out with a clear and verifiable picture of what exactly is hiding under Rock Lake.
What do you think about the pyramids under Rock Lake? Let us know in the comments.
If you enjoyed this article you might also be interested in the Baltic Sea Anomaly or the Underwater City in Cuba.
