Description: Awls made of bone from the Ohio Fort Ancient culture, 900 AD-1500 AD. Excavated from Feurt Mound in Scioto County, Ohio. These objects are held in the Ohio History Connection Archaeology Collection. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: AL00264
Subjects: American Indians--Archaeology; Ohio History--Natural and Native Ohio; Archaeology--United States--History; Fort Ancient Culture (A.D. 1000–1650);
Places: Scioto County (Ohio)
 

Description: Fish hook made of bone from the Fort Ancient culture, 900 AD-1500 AD. Excavated from the Feurt Village Site in Scioto County, Ohio, in 1940. The object is held in the Ohio History Connection Archaeology Collection. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: AL00265
Subjects: American Indians--Archaeology; Ohio History--Natural and Native Ohio; Archaeology--United States--History; Fort Ancient Culture (A.D. 1000–1650);
Places: Scioto County (Ohio)
 

Description: Comb made of bone by the Fort Ancient Culture, 900 AD-1500 AD. Excavated from the Feurt Village Site in Scioto County, Ohio. This item is part of the H. R. McPherson Collection at the Ohio History Connection. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: AL00266
Subjects: American Indians--Archaeology; Ohio History--Natural and Native Ohio; Archaeology--United States--History; Fort Ancient Culture (A.D. 1000–1650);
Places: Scioto County (Ohio)
 

Description: Beaded necklace made of bone from the Fort Ancient culture, 900 AD-1500 AD. Excavated from the Feurt Village Site in Scioto County, Ohio, 1916. The object is held in the Ohio History Connection Archaeology Collection. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: AL00267
Subjects: American Indians--Archaeology; Ohio History--Natural and Native Ohio; Archaeology--United States--History; Fort Ancient Culture (A.D. 1000–1650);
Places: Scioto County (Ohio)
 

Description: Aerial view of Serpent Mound, Adams County, Ohio. It is the largest serpent effigy mound in the United States. The Ohio Historical Society has managed the site since 1900. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: AL02756
Subjects: American Indians--Archaeology; Ohio History--Natural and Native Ohio; Archaeology--United States--History; Fort Ancient Culture (A.D. 1000–1650);
Places: Adams County (Ohio)
 

Description: This photograph shows the Miami Valley from Fort Ancient, Warren County, Ohio, ca. 1886-1888. This photograph is part of a collection compiled by Henry Howe while researching the 1889 edition of "Historical Collections of Ohio." The Fort Ancient Earthworks are a series of earthen embankments that extend for more than three and one half miles around a high bluff along the Little Miami River in southwestern Ohio. Although it is called a "fort," it probably never served as a defensive work. Ditches are located inside the walls rather than outside as might be expected in a fortification. There are more than 60 gateways in the walls, making it difficult to defend the site against enemies. The Hopewell culture (100 B.C. to 500 A. D.) of prehistoric American Indian people constructed the earthworks. Later native residents built a village and a cemetery within the walls of the already ancient South Fort. Archaeologists mistakenly assumed that these villagers had built the earthen walls. It was called the Fort Ancient culture (1000 A.D. to 1650 A.D.) after the name of the site. This mistake has caused confusion for later students of Ohio archaeology. Recent excavations at Fort Ancient have discovered the remains of Hopewell culture houses and ceremonial features both inside and outside of the enclosure walls. It is not known whether the houses located inside the enclosure were occupied before or after the enclosure was built. It also has yet to be determined whether the houses were the dwellings of more or less full time residents, or the temporary shelters of visitors. The Fort Ancient Earthworks is an Ohio Historical Society site open to visitation. It is located seven miles southeast of Lebanon, in Warren County, Ohio. In addition to the earthworks, the site features a museum with interpretive exhibits about Ohio's ancient past. The Fort Ancient Earthworks site also is a National Historic Landmark. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: AL00506
Subjects: Fort Ancient (Ohio); Hopewell Culture (A.D. 1-400) (A.D. 1–400); Fort Ancient Culture (A.D. 1000–1650); Earthworks (Archaeology); State parks & reserves; Mounds--Ohio--Warren County
Places: Warren County (Ohio)
 

Description: Sandstone petroglyphs at Leo Petroglyph State Memorial park, attributed to the Fort Ancient Indians, 900 AD-1500 AD. The Leo Petroglyph is an Ohio Historical Society site located northwest of Leo, Jackson County, Ohio. The photograph was taken ca. 1940-1949. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: AL00354
Subjects: Fort Ancient Culture (A.D. 1000–1650); Ohio History--Natural and Native Ohio
Places: Leo (Ohio); Jackson County (Ohio)
 

Description: Fort Ancient, an earthworks featuring 18,000 feet of earthen walls, was built 2,000 years ago by Hopewell Indians who used the shoulder blades of deer, split elk antler, clam shell hoes and digging sticks to dig the dirt. They then carried the soil in baskets holding 35 to 40 pounds. Portions of these walls were used in conjunction with the sun and moon to provide a calendar system for these peoples. Early settlers believed the mounds were fortifications, leading to the naming of the site Fort Ancient. The two photographs shown here measure 8" x 10" (20.32 x 25.4 cm). In Ohio, the Hopewell Indians (100 B.C.-A.D. 500) built burial mounds and large earthen enclosures in geometric shapes (circles, squares, and octagons) to mark the places where the people gathered periodically to participate in many social and ceremonial events. Some of these sites were quite large--the Newark Earthworks complex extends over a 4-square-mile area. The Hopewell people also maintained a large trade network extending as far as the Rocky Mountains of Wyoming, the Florida coast and Appalachians, and northern Lake Superior. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: Om3174_3928614_001
Subjects: Fort Ancient (Ohio); Fort Ancient Culture (A.D. 1000–1650); Earthworks (Archaeology); Hopewell Culture (A.D. 1-400) (A.D. 1–400); State parks & reserves; Mounds--Ohio--Warren County
Places: Oregonia (Ohio); Lebanon (Ohio); Warren County (Ohio)
 

Description: Reverse reads: "Aerial view of Serpent Mound largest serpent effigy mound in the world near Fort Hill Adams County" The Serpent Mound, containing three parts, extends approximately 1, 370 feet ((420m) and varies in height from less than a foot to three feet. It conforms to the land where it rests with its head approaching a cliff above a stream and its body winds back and forth over eight hundred feet with seven coils. It's tail ends in a triple coil. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places on Oct 15, 1966. The serpent has an open mouth extending around the east of a 120 foot-long hollow oval feature. Some scholars theory is that the oval feature is an egg, the sun, the body of a frog, or the remnant of a platform. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: SA1039AV_B10F05_001_001
Subjects: Serpent Mound State Memorial (Ohio); Fort Ancient Culture (A.D. 1000–1650)
Places: Adams County (Ohio)
 

Description: Map of Fort Ancient, near Lebanon, Ohio, along the Little Miami River. The map includes a scale and elevations, and is dated July 1908. Text beneath the map title reads "Property of the State of Ohio Surveyed for the Ohio Archaeological and Historical Society by the Civil Engineering Department of the Ohio State University." The Fort Ancient earthworks was built approximately 2,000 years ago by people of the Hopewell Culture near present-day Lebanon. The earthworks is comprised of 18,000 feet of earthen walls, portions of which were used in conjunction with the sun and moon to provide a calendar system for the prehistoric Hopewell. It is now a National Historic Landmark and recognized as one of the best-preserved Hopewell sites in the United States. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: MAPVFM_0059_8
Subjects: Fort Ancient (Ohio); Fort Ancient Culture (A.D. 1000–1650); Earthworks (Archaeology); Hopewell Culture (A.D. 1-400) (A.D. 1–400); State parks & reserves; Mounds--Ohio--Warren County
Places: Fort Ancient (Ohio); Lebanon (Ohio); Warren County (Ohio);
 

Description: Serpent Mound is a spectacular effigy earthwork of a serpent uncoiling along a prominent ridgetop in northern Adams County, Ohio. From the tip of its nose to the end of its tail, the effigy is 1,348 feet long. When it was originally described in 1848, the body of the serpent was five feet high and 30 feet wide. Excavations between 1887 and 1889 by Frederic Putnam, of Harvard University's Peabody Museum, revealed the structure of the earthwork, but Putnam did not find any artifacts that revealed the age or cultural affiliation of the mound. Until recently, archaeologists assumed that Serpent Mound was built by the Adena culture (800 B.C. to 100 A.D.) since two Adena burial mounds are located nearby. Yet Putnam also discovered traces of a village of the Fort Ancient culture (1000 A.D. to 1650 A.D.) near the Serpent. Excavations conducted in 1991 recovered charcoal that returned radiocarbon dates suggesting that the Fort Ancient people built the mound between about 1025 A.D. and 1215 A.D. Serpents are a common feature in the art of the Late Prehistoric Period (900 A.D. to 1650 A.D.). Many American Indians of the Eastern Woodlands believed the Great Serpent was a powerful spirit of the Underworld, and it is believed that Serpent Mound may be a representation of these beliefs. The head of Serpent Mound is aligned with the setting sun on the summer solstice and the coils may be aligned to the summer and winter solstice and equinox sunrises. These alignments support the idea that Serpent Mound had a ceremonial purpose for its creators. Frederic Putnam saved Serpent Mound from destruction. On his urging, funds were raised for Harvard University to purchase the site. Later, the ownership was transferred to the Ohio Historical Society. Serpent Mound is now recognized as a National Historic Landmark. Serpent Mound State Memorial is located 20 miles south of Bainbridge in Adams County. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: SC804_SerpentMound_01
Subjects: Great Serpent Mound (Ohio); Earthworks (Art)--United States; American Indian history; Earthworks (Archaeology); Mounds--Ohio--Adams County; Adena Culture (800 B.C.–A.D. 100); Fort Ancient Culture (A.D. 1000–1650)
Places: Adams County (Ohio);
 

Description: Serpent Mound is a spectacular effigy earthwork of a serpent uncoiling along a prominent ridgetop in northern Adams County, Ohio. From the tip of its nose to the end of its tail, the effigy is 1,348 feet long. When it was originally described in 1848, the body of the serpent was five feet high and 30 feet wide. Excavations between 1887 and 1889 by Frederic Putnam, of Harvard University's Peabody Museum, revealed the structure of the earthwork, but Putnam did not find any artifacts that revealed the age or cultural affiliation of the mound. Until recently, archaeologists assumed that Serpent Mound was built by the Adena culture (800 B.C. to 100 A.D.) since two Adena burial mounds are located nearby. Yet Putnam also discovered traces of a village of the Fort Ancient culture (1000 A.D. to 1650 A.D.) near the Serpent. Excavations conducted in 1991 recovered charcoal that returned radiocarbon dates suggesting that the Fort Ancient people built the mound between about 1025 A.D. and 1215 A View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: SC804_SerpentMound_02
Subjects: Great Serpent Mound (Ohio); Earthworks (Art)--United States; American Indian history; Earthworks (Archaeology); Mounds--Ohio--Adams County; Adena Culture (800 B.C.–A.D. 100); Fort Ancient Culture (A.D. 1000–1650)
Places: Adams County (Ohio);