Serpent Mound

Effigy mounds have been constructed independently by several cultures. The significance of Serpent Mound is based on its size and historical relevance. Made up of three parts, Serpent Mound extends over 1,348 ft (411 m) in length, varying from 9 in (23 cm) to more than 3 ft (91 cm) in height. The mound stands with a width varying between 22 and 24 ft (6.7 and 7.3 m) based on the section. Serpent Mound conforms to the surrounding land, as it was built on a bluff above the Ohio Brush Creek. The mound winds back and forth for more than eight hundred feet, with its tail coiling in seven areas throughout the mound. The mound features a triple-coiled tail at the end of the structure, often viewed as a benchmark of the mound. Yellowish clay and ash make up the main constituents of the mound, with a layer of rocks and soil reinforcing the outer layer.

The Squire and Davis interpretation of the structure is that of an open-mouth head of a serpent nearly engulfs a hollow oval feature that faces the east and is 120-foot (37 m) long. Squire and Davis believed the oval feature may represent an egg, with an apparent depiction of the snake consuming it. Archaeologist J.P. McLean identified the mound as the body of a frog.^[3] The western side of the effigy features a triangular mound approximately 31.6 ft (9.6 m) at its base and long axis. Similar serpent effigies exist in Serpent Mounds Park in Canada and Skelmorie in Scotland.^[5]

Throughout the twentieth century, anthropologists and archaeologists had disputed whether the Adena or Fort Ancient cultures had created the Serpent Mound, as may be seen in a overview published by the Metropolitan Museum of Art in 2002.^[9] In 2014, Herrmann and Romain used radiocarbon dating to determine the mound was built in 300 BCE (2300 years ago) by the Adena peoples. This date was corroborated in 2019 and it was determined that the mound was subsequently rebuilt or repaired about 900 years ago (1100 CE) during the Fort Ancient period.^[10]

These dates were later challenged by archaeologist Brad Lepper who published a response questioning the attribution of construction to the Adena culture.^[11] Lepper et al. pointed out that the dates obtained in 2014 by Herrmann and Romain are of poor quality. The material the team dated is not charcoal, but “organic sediment”. Moreover, the samples were obtained from soil cores and not an exposed stratigraphic profile, so the resulting dates are known to be problematic. Henriksen and his colleagues have demonstrated that such dates can be as much as 3,000 years older than the actual age of a mound. Moreover, the Adena culture is not known to have built effigy mounds or to have used serpent symbolism in their art, whereas the Fort Ancient culture built the Ohio Alligator Effigy Mound and frequently depicted serpents in their art. Lepper et al. concluded that the best available data indicated that Serpent Mound was built by the Fort Ancient culture.^[12][13]

The Serpent Mound at Rice Lake in Peterborough County, Ontario, Canada, has been dated to more than 2,000 years old. It has also been linked to the Adena culture.^[14]

The Woodland Period (800 BCE–1200 CE) of the Post-Archaic Period is known for its rich ritual and artistic life and well-developed villages. The period is well known for many earthworks and mounds built during the time. During the early and middle woodland period, the Adena culture and Hopewell tradition flourished during the Early and Middle Woodland periods, and the addition of agriculture enabled the population of the Woodland people to expand dramatically. Several groups of the Woodland people lived in larger villages, surrounded by defensive walls or ditches. Ceremonial and artistic endeavors waned during the Late Woodland period, as did trading with other groups. Many of the earthworks and effigy mounds were built early in this period. Construction of mounds by cultures in the area stagnated until the late prehistoric period (900 CE-1650 CE)^[15]

In 1987, Clark and Marjorie Hardman published their finding that the oval-to-head area of the serpent is aligned to the summer solstice sunset. A depiction of the serpent mound appeared in The Century periodical in April 1890, drawn by William Jacob Baer.

According to archaeologist Brad Lepper, Serpent Mound may be a depiction of a Dhegihan Siouan origin story of the Great Serpent "Toothy Mouth”, lord of the Beneath World, who impregnated the First Woman.^[19]

According to Woodward and McDonald's interpretation:

“Serpent Mound has given rise to a rich, diverse, and dynamic body of folk and scientific lore — there is no shortage of thoughts about how the effigy came to exist or, perhaps more importantly, why. At one time this earthen serpent was considered by some people with Christian affinity to be a mark of God that indicated the location of the Garden of Eden and served as a reminder of his moral authority. Today, New Age pilgrims find power and enlightenment, traditional views revere unrevealed distant purpose and perspective, and others seek meaning in geometric relationships between mounds and astronomical concurrences.”

From previous assumptions of a construction date around 1070 AD, some archaeologists believe that the appearance of Halley's Comet in 1066 could have influenced its construction.^[20]

Frederic Ward Putnam of the Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology at Harvard University 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 destroying many of the mounds, removing significant history of these cultures and their burial sites. In 1886, with help from a group of wealthy women in Boston, headed by Alice C. Fletcher, Putnam raised funds to purchase 60 acres (0.24 km²) at the site of the Serpent Mound in hopes to ensure its preservation. Along with the Serpent Mound, the purchase also contained three conical mounds, a village site, and a burial place. ^[21]

In 1900, the land and its ownership were granted to the Ohio State Archaeological and Historical Society (a predecessor of the present Ohio History Connection). The Ohio Historical Society designated the Arc of Appalachia Preserves system, a project of Highlands Sanctuary, Inc., as the managing agency of Serpent Mound from 2009 until 2021^[22]. Following an instance of vandalism in 2015, more security cameras were installed to ensure the protection of the site and surrounding area.^[23] The site is now managed by the Ohio History Connection.^[4]

Excavation and survey

Squier and Davis were the first to publish a survey of Serpent Mound in 1848.^[3] In 1901, Clinton Cowen surveyed and mapped

Serpent Mound and the area around it.^[24] After raising funds to purchase the site, Frederic Ward Putnam returned to Serpent Mound in 1886. He worked for four years to excavate the burial sequence contents of both the Serpent Mound and two nearby conical mounds. After completing his excavation and publishing his work, Putnam worked on restoring the mounds to their original state. One of the conical mounds that was excavated by Putnam in 1890 yielded several artifacts of a principal burial during the period of the Adena people. Along with these findings, Putnam found and excavated nine intrusive burials in the mound through his discovery of an ash bed containing many prehistoric artifacts, north of the conical mound. After the excavation, the conical mound was reconstructed and currently stands just north of the parking lot at the Serpent Mound State Memorial.

During excavation of the Serpent Mound, archaeologists uncovered pipes, points, and earspools from the Hopewell culture as well as Gorgets and points from the Adena culture.^[5]

In 2011, archaeologists took the opportunity to excavate the property prior to installation of utility lines at the Serpent Mound State Memorial. The excavations focused on three sides of the conical mound that had been excavated previously by Putnam in 1890. In addition to these concentrations of artifacts, an ashy soil horizon was excavated north of the conical mound, where archaeologists were able to uncover many prehistoric artifacts. It is believed that the ashy deposit of charcoal is the remainder of a Fort Ancient Culture ash bed. The wood charcoal from within the remnant bed was carbon dated back to the time of the Fort Ancient Culture, between the years of 1041 CE and 1211 CE. Given the results found through carbon dating, burials in the conical mound dated to the Early Woodland and Fort Ancient periods, suggestive of ritual reuse of the circum mound area and ash bed.^[25]

• Cahokia
• Crooks Mound
• Glades culture
• Hopewell Culture National Historical Park
• Indian Mounds Park
• Mound Builders
• Nazca Lines
• Spiro Mounds
• Marree Man
• List of impact craters on Earth
• List of impact craters in North America