Between AD 650 and 1200, groups of Native Americans throughout the southern half of Wisconsin and parts of adjacent states built earthen mounds in many shapes and sizes, including animal-shaped forms now called effigy mounds. The 11 mounds preserved in the Jefferson County Indian Mounds and Trail Park were once part of a larger group of 78 and include symmetrical forms and shapes resembling birds, turtles or lizards, and perhaps spiritual figures. A remnant of an ancient trail is also visible there. The people who built these mounds hunted and gathered food, often returning seasonally to the same locations, lived in semi-permanent villages, used the bow and arrow, and made and used pottery. The mounds likely served ceremonial, spiritual, and practical purposes, perhaps marking territories and designating special gathering places, and they often, though not always, contain burials. The Lake Koshkonong area once had 23 effigy mound groups made up of about 500 individual mounds.