Dive deeper into the history of the Adena people, the Hopewell culture, along other ancient American Indian cultures. There are a few theories on who built this iconic effigy mound, but it is clear that it was built by the ancestors of modern-day Native Americans who lived in the region.
Some argue that the Adena Culture built the mound nearly 2, years ago since it is the same culture that created the large burial mound on the east end of the parking lot. Others think it was the Fort Ancient people nearly years ago as that culture built the small burial mound near the west end of the parking lot.
I should think that anyone that views the Serpent will realize its sacredness and treat this place as they would any cathedral, synagogue, or mosque. When we see this place, this is our holy ground. It appears that both parts of this particular earthwork in Ohio were first outlined upon a smooth surface along the ridge of the hill. Then along the steeper portions of the hill, the base mixed with stones prevents the structure from being washed away by heavy rain.
Get an aerial view of the mound by climbing the observation tower. The observation tower is strategically located in a spot so that guests can view the entire Serpent. There are quite a few steep steps to climb, and there is not an elevator to get to the top. I highly recommend the climb to the top to get a full appreciation of the mound. Visit two burial mounds near Serpent Mound. One is located near the east end of the parking lot, the other near the west end.
Made in Ohio. Amish Country. Ohio Road Trips. Ohio Adventure Trails. Explore Ohio. The Serpent Mounds National Historic Site of Canada is the most completely investigated archaeological site in Canada associated with the Point Peninsula culture and contains information on both the daily and the ritual life of this culture, which dates from 50 BCE to CE. These sites have been systematically investigated in , , , and Address : Otonabee-South Monaghan, Ontario. Designation Date: In the late 19th century, Frederic Ward Putnam, an archaeologist at Harvard University , conducted the earliest scientific excavations of Serpent Mound.
He attributed the effigy to the earlier group the Adena. Decades later, other archaeologists also attributed Serpent Mound to the Adena, largely based on circumstantial evidence. That is, Serpent Mound contains no artifacts that can be used for identification, but the nearby conical mounds do. Putman originally excavated a conical mound located meters feet southeast of Serpent Mound, unearthing multiple burials and associated artifacts, including pottery and projectile points.
In the s, archaeologist James Bennett Griffith analyzed these artifacts and identified them as Adena, and thus attributed the effigy to that culture. Griffith also found both Adena and Fort Ancient materials in nearby cultural features, but he considered it far less likely that the more recent civilization would have built Serpent Mound, especially since the effigy is similar in style to other Adena earthworks in the Ohio Valley, such as Portsmouth Works a mound complex in Scioto County, Ohio.
Using radio carbon dating, they determined that the samples—and Serpent Mound—date back to about A. This new data, which is based on the first direct aging of the structure, put the effigy in the Late Prehistoric Fort Ancient period. But in , another research team carbon-dated a number of other charcoal samples, placing the construction of Serpent Mound between B. The new evidence suggests, once again, that the Adena were the original builders of Serpent Mound.
In addition to leading the first excavation efforts of Serpent Mound, Putnam also led efforts to restore and preserve the effigy. Specifically, his efforts helped raise funds for Harvard University to purchase the site, which the Yale Peabody Museum of Natural History converted into a public park until The organization built an observation tower at the site in , and later built the Serpent Mound museum and other visitor facilities.
Herrmann et al.
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