When was the Serpent Mound built?
The two leading theories are that the mound was built by either the Adena Culture (800 BC to 100 AD) around 320 BC, or the Fort Ancient Culture (1000 to 1750 AD) around 1070 AD. Archaeologists began attributing the mound to the Fort Ancient culture (circa 1070 AD) with the publication of "Serpent Mound: A Fort Ancient Icon?"
Did the Fort Ancient build a mound?
If this mound was built by the Fort Ancient people, it was uncharacteristic for that group. For example, the mound does not contain artifacts, although, like the Adena people, the Fort Ancient culture typically buried many artifacts in its mounds.
Did the Adena build the Serpent Mound?
As there are Adena graves near the Serpent Mound, scholars thought the same people constructed the mound. The skeletal remains of the Adena type uncovered in the 1880s at Serpent Mound indicate that these people were unique among the ancient Ohio Valley peoples.
Where is the Great Serpent Mound located in Ohio?
/ 39.02639°N 83.43083°W / 39.02639; -83.43083 / 39.02639°N 83.43083°W / 39.02639; -83.43083 The Great Serpent Mound is a 1,348-foot-long (411 m), three-foot-high prehistoric effigy mound on a plateau of the Serpent Mound crater along Ohio Brush Creek in Adams County, Ohio.
What tribe built the Serpent Mound?
The origin of the Serpent Mound, who built it and when, is still widely debated. In the 1700s a tribe of Delaware Indians told a man by the name of John Heckewelder that the Allegheny people built the mound. The Allegheny were a race of people who lived prior to the Adena culture, before approximately 1200 BC.
Who built the Serpent Mound when did they build it?
An article published in July 2014, titled "New Radiocarbon Dates Suggest Serpent Mound is More Than 2,000 Years Old", provides evidence supporting the mound's creation by the Adena culture around 300 BC (2300 years ago).
What people built the Great Serpent Mound?
When it was first discovered by European explorers, the indigenous Adena people were cited as the builders. Carbon dating done in 1996 placed the age of the Serpent Mound at 1070 A.D., meaning it was most likely the work of the Fort Ancient people.
Did Native Americans build the Great Serpent Mound?
Archaeologists agree that the ancestors of American Indians built the mound, but disagree about which particular ancestors. We think the available evidence supports a Late Precontact period age of around AD 1100, whereas some other archaeologists think it was built at around 300 BC during the Early Woodland period.
What is inside Serpent Mound?
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 200 meters (656 feet) southeast of Serpent Mound, unearthing multiple burials and associated artifacts, including pottery and projectile points.
Can you visit the Great Serpent Mound in Ohio?
The Serpent continues to elicit humility, wonder, and awe – drawing tens of thousands of visitors a year from across the country and the world. The park is open daily from dawn to dusk with a $8.00 parking fee/vehicle and $4.00/Motorcycle.
What was found beneath the Great Serpent Mound?
In fact, the head of the creature approaches a steep, natural cliff above the creek. The unique geologic formations suggest that a meteor struck the site approximately 250-300 million years ago, causing folded bedrock underneath the mound.
How many Indian mounds are in Ohio?
70 Indian moundsThe State of Ohio has more than 70 Indian mounds, burial sites of the Adena and Hopewell tribes--the "mound builders"--who inhabited central and southern Ohio from roughly 3,000 BCE until the 16th century. Many of these sites are open to the public, including the dramatic and fascinating Serpent Mound.
How old is the Serpent Mound in Ohio?
This theory on the site's origin was accepted until a 1991 site excavation used radiocarbon dating to determine that the mound was approximately 900 years old. This would suggest that the builders of the Serpent belonged to the Fort Ancient culture (A.D. 1000–1500).
Are there still Shawnee in Ohio?
In 1830, the Shawnee and other tribes were removed from Ohio by the federal Dawes or Indian Removal Act. The Shawnee eventually settled in Oklahoma; there are no federally recognized tribes located in Ohio. The current Native American population in the state is around .
Are there any Shawnee left?
The Shawnee Tribe is a federally recognized sovereign nation with about 3,200 tribal citizens as of 2020. Shawnee citizens reside not only in Oklahoma, but also live and work throughout the world.
Who were the Mound Builders in North America?
1650 A.D., the Adena, Hopewell, and Fort Ancient Native American cultures built mounds and enclosures in the Ohio River Valley for burial, religious, and, occasionally, defensive purposes.
When was the Serpent Mound in Ohio built?
Serpent Mound (also known as Great Serpent Mound) is an archaeological and historic site in Peebles, Ohio, USA, enclosing an effigy mound 1348 feet (411 m) long in the shape of a serpent, the largest effigy mound of a serpent in the world, built between c. 800 BCE and c. 1070 CE.
How old is the Serpent Mound?
This theory on the site's origin was accepted until a 1991 site excavation used radiocarbon dating to determine that the mound was approximately 900 years old. This would suggest that the builders of the Serpent belonged to the Fort Ancient culture (A.D. 1000–1500).
Did the Hopewell build the Serpent Mound?
Serpent Mound, probably built several hundred years after the Hopewell-era sites, is the largest documented surviving example of an ancient effigy mound in the world.
What was found beneath the Great Serpent Mound?
In fact, the head of the creature approaches a steep, natural cliff above the creek. The unique geologic formations suggest that a meteor struck the site approximately 250-300 million years ago, causing folded bedrock underneath the mound.
When was the Serpent Mound built?
But in 2014, another research team carbon-dated a number of other charcoal samples, placing the construction of Serpent Mound between 381 B.C. and 44 B.C. , with a mean date of 321 B.C.
When was the Serpent Mound discovered?
Using radio carbon dating, they determined that the samples—and Serpent Mound—date back to about 920 A.D., some 1400 years later than originally thought.
What Is Serpent Mound?
As its name suggests, Serpent Mound resembles a giant sinuous snake with a curled tail at the west end, a head at the east end, and seven winding coils in between. In all, the snake stretches a quarter of a mile and ranges from 1.2 to 1.5 meters (3.9 to 4.9 feet) in height and 6.0 to 7.6 meters (19.7 to 24.9 feet) in width.
What group did the Serpent Mound belong to?
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.
Why did the Serpent Mound have a spiritual purpose?
Serpent Mound may have had a spiritual purpose, given that the many native cultures in North and Central America revered snakes, attributing supernatural powers to the slithering reptiles.
What did Putnam do to help the 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 1900.
When was the Adena effigy first placed?
Though the terms “Adena” and “Fort Ancient” hadn’t yet been coined when Putnam first placed trenches in Serpent Mound and its nearby earthen mounds in 1887 to 1889, the archaeologist recognized that people of two different time periods occupied the Serpent Mound area. He attributed the effigy to the earlier group (the Adena).
When was the Serpent Mound built?
Archaeologists are still debating the origin of Serpent Mound. The mound contains no artifacts and no burials that would help establish the age of the mound. The two leading theories are that the mound was built by either the Adena Culture (800 BC to 100 AD) around 320 BC, or the Fort Ancient Culture (1000 to 1750 AD) around 1070 AD.
Who was the artist of the serpent mound?
A depiction of the serpent mound that appeared in The Century periodical in April 1890, drawn by William Jacob Baer.
How long did Putnam work on the Serpent Mound?
He worked for four years excavating the contents and burial sequences of both the Serpent Mound and two nearby conical mounds. After his work was completed and his findings documented, Putnam worked on restoring the mounds to their original state.
Why was the serpent mound important?
Fletcher and Cameron argued convincingly for the Serpent Mound's coils being aligned to the two solstice and two equinox events each year. If the Serpent Mound was designed to sight both solar and lunar arrays, it would be significant as the consolidation of astronomical knowledge into a single symbol.
What is the significance of the Conical Mound?
One of the conical mounds that was excavated by Putnam (1890) yielded a principal burial which has grave goods that associate it with the Adena period (800 BC-100 BC). He also found and excavated nine intrusive burials in the mound. Additionally, Putnam discovered an ash bed north of the conical mound that contained many prehistoric artifacts. After the excavation, the conical mound was reconstructed and is today standing south of the parking lot at Serpent Mound State Memorial.
How tall is the Great Serpent Mound?
The Great Serpent Mound is a 1,348-foot-long (411 m), three-foot-high prehistoric effigy mound on a plateau of the Serpent Mound crater along Ohio Brush Creek in Adams County, Ohio. Maintained within a park by Ohio History Connection, it has been designated a National Historic Landmark by the United States Department of Interior.
How many acres did Putnam purchase?
In 1886, with help from a group of wealthy women in Boston (such as the noted Glass Flowers ' patroness Mary Lee Ware ), Putnam raised funds to purchase 60 acres (240,000 m 2) at the Serpent Mound site for preservation. The purchase also contained three conical mounds, a village site and a burial place.
What is the Great Serpent Mound?
Aerial view of the The Great Serpent Mound, one of the most important prehistoric effigy mound od Adema Culture. Timothy A. Price and Nichole I./CC BY 2.5
Where did the mound builders live?
The “mound builders” of early North America lived throughout what are now the Ohio Valley and Mississippi regions. The earliest group was probably the Adena people, who flourished from 1000 BCE to 200 BCE. They built mounds throughout North America, from Wisconsin to Mississippi.
Where is the Serpent Mound effigy?
The effigy is located within the Serpent Mound State Memorial and has been designated a National Historic Landmark. A nonprofit organization called Arc of Appalachia maintains a museum near the mound.
Who built the serpent shaped mound?
Glenna Wallace, chief of the Eastern Shawnee Tribe of Oklahoma and Ben Barnes, chief of the Shawnee Tribe, ...
Where is the great serpent mound?
The great Serpent Mound in Ohio. (Image courtesy of Creative Commons) Since the 1987 Harmonic Convergence, the mound has become a mecca for followers of New Age spirituality. The idea of the Convergence was created by author and art historian Jose Arguelles who claimed August 16-17, 1987, were significant dates in the Maya calendar ...
What is the message of the Serpent Mound?
Their overwhelming message is one of reverence and respect for the sacred and a plea for visitors to appreciate and honor the Serpent Mound as they would a cathedral, synagogue or mosque.
What tribes walked to the head of the Great Serpent?
After three long, hot days of multiple public presentations, Barnes, Wallace and citizens of both Shawnee tribes feasted and prayed. At sunset they walked to the head of the great serpent, gazing out towards the horizon. As the sun dipped into darkness, a moment of connection was palatable, the Shawnee had come home.
Which tribe returned home to the Serpent Mound on the longest day of the year?
The Shawnee tribe returned home to the Serpent Mound on the longest day of the year.
When was the Newark Earthworks built?
Archaeologists say the Newark Earthworks were built between 100 B.C. and 500 A.D. by the Hopewell culture. Like the earthworks built by the Hopewell, the Serpent Mound may have a cosmic connection. The head and oval are aligned to the setting sun on the summer solstice.
Is the Serpent Mound a national monument?
The mound is a National Historic Landmark; in 2008 the Serpent Mound and eight other Ohio earthworks were selected for inclusion on the U.S. tentative list of sites to be submitted to the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, (UNESCO) World Heritage list.
Description
Preservation
Ancient Monuments of the Mississippi Valley fascinated many across the country, including Frederic Ward Putnam of the Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology at Harvard University. Putnam spent much of his career lecturing and publishing on the Ohio mounds, specifically the Serpent Mound. When he visited the Midwest in 1885, he found that plowing and development were dest…
Origin and chronology
In previous years, the civilization responsible for the creation of the Serpent Mound had been highly disputed amongst archaeologists, as can be seen in the material published in 2002. Its construction was often attributed to different civilizations. Very little additional evidence, such as artifacts and burials, can be found at the site of the mound, leaving it hard for archaeologists to trace its construction back to one civilization. Archaeologists generally acknowledged that the A…
Prehistory of Ohio
Several groups of Paleo-Indians (13000 B.C. to 7000 B.C.) occupied the land in Ohio prior to the Adena and Hopewell cultures. Evidence shows that numerous civilizations of Paleo-Indians occupied the land in Ohio, thriving through hunter-gatherer techniques, and ranged throughout the land. The Paleo-Indians hunted large game such as mastodon. Archaeologists have found remains of more 15…
Civilizations of the Midwest
The Adena culture consists of the pre-contact American Indian culture that lived throughout the midwest in states such as Kentucky, Indiana, Pennsylvania, West Virginia and most predominantly Ohio. The majority of these civilizations inhabited the Scioto River and Hocking Valleys in southern Ohio, as well as the Kanawha Valley near Charleston, West Virginia. This period is often referred t…
Meaning of the mound
Having been built around 1070 A.D., many archaeologists believe that the mound's creation could have been influenced by two different astronomical events: the light from the supernova that created the Crab Nebula in the year 1054 A.D. and the appearance of Halley's Comet in 1066 A.D. The light of the supernova would have been visible for two weeks after it first reached earth, w…
See also
• Cahokia
• Crooks mound
• Glades culture
• Hopewell culture National Historical Park
• Indian Mounds Park (disambiguation)
Further reading
• Fletcher, Robert V., Terry L. Cameron, Bradley T. Lepper, Dee Anne Wymer, and William Pickard, "Serpent Mound: A Fort Ancient Icon?", Midcontinental Journal of Archaeology, Vol 21, No. 1, Spring 1996, University of Iowa.
• Putnam, Frederic Ward, "The Serpent Mound of Ohio: Site Excavation and Park Reconstruction.", Century Magazine Vol 39: 871–888. Illustrations by William Jacob Baer.