Effigy Mounds in Ohio, Fort Ancient Culture

~Serpent Mound, Ohio~ 1000-1140 A.D.

The Serpent Mound near Locust Grove, Ohio overlooking Brush Creek is an amazing site to see, all 1/4 mile of it.

About the Mound: Between 1000-1140 A.D. the Serpent was created by first an outline of small stones and lumps of clay, which was then covered by basketfuls of yellow clay. It also had on the steep slopes special layers of stones in the foundation to make sure it didn't wash away. The alignment to the stars is well recorded and this place is quite obviously sacred, having ancient ceremonial and calendar-like purposes as well. The result for visitors to the site is an amazing experience of this quarter long work of art of what I believe to be the water spirit, complete with coiled tail. Click here to watch a short video clip to learn more.   What was the purpose of this mound? Theories exist, but none have been written as the final decision on the matter. The fact that the serpent is congruent with the Little Dipper, and that the tail reflects the progress of the constellation around the North Star are interesting to be sure.   Sadly, as in most sacred site's histories, the first white settlers in the region weren't so interested in saving the serpent. In fact it had been desecrated by gold seekers and people claiming to be "antiquarians" for most of the early 19th century. Then, almost as the Gods seem to show their displeasure for it's destruction, a tornado ripped through the site, uprooting all of the huge trees that grew on and around the earthworks.	How to use the gallery below:      1.)Click arrows to see next set of images    2.) Click on any image to enlarge.

This event of course in the mind of that generation of owners of the site was of great fortune. That is, to have beautifully cleared farmland without all the work! As a result, it was used for not only livestock to graze on, but also for cultivation.

The Good News...

There is for the Serpent Mound however, a happy ending.

I have to say that Ohio is lucky that a gentleman by the name of Frederick Ward Putnum from Harvard entered the scene. He saw how the constant treasure hunting and annual plowing was slowly erasing the embankments (hmmm, this sound familiar doesn't it?) In fact he claimed that in 1883, without proper preservation, the people in later generations such as ours would never know they ever existed.

Putnam decided to do something about this. He rallied supporters and raised enough funds to buy the mound for Harvard University.

Putnam spent three years there first doing his own research and then personally hand-trowelling the whole perimeter, and then rebuilding the embankments back to the serpent's perfect form once again with the yellow clay.

Putnam next preserved this place for us by converting it into a public park, and deeded it over to the Ohio Historical Society in 1900.

Another Interesting Thing About This Place

The serpent mound resides on a huge crater possibly made by the impact of a huge asteroid around 300 million years ago. This literally up heaved the plateau that the mound resides on today. There is water that drains from the Serpent then down the sandstone cliff at three edges of the plateau. Some people even think that there is a cavern located somewhere underneath the quarter mile long mound. Click here to see a short video clip showing you this.

Here is the cliff directly below the area below the head of the serpent:

Bringing it all together...

I wanted to enlarge the one shot of the huge old trees (above) that once again exist at the serpent mound. It was taken on a day I spent there in 2006. These trees somehow capture the ancient beauty and sacred feeling emitted from this place for me, even though these specific ones are replacements that were torn up by the tornado so long ago. In that sense, these huge old trees certainly do show as a grand memorial of Mr. Putnam and how long this Serpent has been preserved.

The Serpent Mound was the first site saved in Ohio. Click here to watch a video of this mound as it looks  today. (This is the best video of how it actually looks that I have.)

Ohio should be proud to have preserved this place and the surrounding smaller conical burial mounds, not unlike those found at Aztalan in Wisconsin. As I stop and ponder that thought I have to say that the Serpent Mound in fact really encompasses all of the mounds that I have seen to date.

1.) It has a water spirit design like those found in Wisconsin, and I will be happy to share the idea that the head of the Serpent Mound is the same shape as the head of the Man Mound in Baraboo, Wisconsin.

2.) It is built of all embankments like what are found all over Fort Ancient, and in fact has been decided that it had to be built by the Fort Ancient Culture.

3.) It aligns to the lunar cycle, just like the geometric mounds found in the Newark site.

4.) Just like Spanish Hill, Fort Ancient, the "Alligator Mound, the Miamisburg Mound, and some of the effigy mounds in Wisconsin, it is located on a high bluff with a great view of many miles in most directions.

5.) Like many of the mounds discussed here including Spanish Hill and Fort Ancient, is built with a river running on it's west edge.

6.) It ignites an interest in all that see it to try to understand those mysteries of our ancient past. It truly is an inspirational place.

7.) It stands as a reminder of just how valuable the preservation of our ancient sites is.

Visit the Serpent Mound near Locust Grove, Ohio when you can. The Great Pyramids and Stonehenge both pale to the more impressive sites I share with you from our own prehistoric past.

Types of Man-Made Mounds

Man-made mounds are mounds that were made from the ground up and fall into four basic shapes or categories. Conical mounds, Effigy mounds, Temple Mounds and Geometric (usually linear) mounds.

1.) The Mound Builder Myth	4.) Fort Ancient Culture
2.) Where Were All of These Earthworks?	5.) Types of Mounds
3.) Three Stages of Mound Building Cultures	6.) Helpful Resources (stay tuned!)