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);
 

Description: Original drawings of artifacts recovered during the excavation of a mound at Cincinnati, Ohio, on August 30, 1794. These drawings by Winthrop Sargent include Archaic plummets and Middle Woodland ear ornaments and a bird head carving crafted by the Hopewell Culture. Handwritten descriptions accompany the illustrations. These objects were uncovered from a mound located near what is now the intersection of Third and Main Streets in Cincinnati. Sargent, who at the time was secretary and governor pro tem of the Northwest Territory, described these findings in a letter dated September 8, 1794, to a Dr. Benjamin Barton of Philadelphia. This is considered the first official reporting of mound excavations in Cincinnati by Ohio settlers. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: MSS11_B03F11_001
Subjects: Archaeology--United States--History; Mounds--Ohio River Valley; Excavations (Archaeology)--Ohio; Sargent, Winthrop, 1753-1820; Hopewell Culture (A.D. 1-400);
Places: Cincinnati (Ohio); Hamilton 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: Canine bear teeth with pearl inlays from the Ohio Hopewell culture, 100 BC-500 AD. Excavated from Burial 35, Mound 25, Hopewell Group, Ross County, ca. 1922-1925. The object is held in the Ohio History Connection Archaeology Collection. The Hopewell Mound Group, the type site for the Hopewell Culture, is located along the North Fork of Paint Creek in Union Township, Ross County, Ohio. When first surveyed in the mid-1800s the mound and earthwork complex, once referred to as the Clark Works, contained at least 38 mounds of various sizes within a 111-acre, somewhat “D”-shaped walled enclosure. An attached segmented square enclosed an additional 18 acres. The most notable mound in the group is referred to as Mound 25, a three-part conjoined mound that once measured 35 feet high by 500 feet long and 180 feet wide at the base. It was this mound more than any other that was the source of many of the iconic artifacts that defined the Hopewell Culture (100 BC-AD 400). The Hopewell Mound Group was extensively investigated in the early 1890s by Warren Moorehead to collect material for the 1892 World’s Columbian Exposition. This material is now housed in the Chicago Field Museum. In the 1920s Henry Shetrone of the Ohio State Archaeological and Historical Society (now the Ohio History Connection) also did extensive field work there, assembling an impressive collection of materials for the museum. Today the Hopewell Mound Group and several other related Ross County earthwork complexes are overseen by the National Park Service as the Hopewell Culture National Historic Park. The Hopewell Mound Group is one of seven Ohio Hopewell Ceremonial Earthwork sites presently under consideration by the United States Department of the Interior for nomination as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: AL00260
Subjects: Ross County (Ohio); Ohio History--Natural and Native Ohio; Archaeology--United States--History; Hopewell Culture (A.D. 1–400); Artifacts
Places: Ross County (Ohio)
 

Description: Two-headed snake effigy pipe carved from obsidian, from the Ohio Hopewell culture, 100 BC-500 AD. Excavated from Offering 1, Mound 17, Hopewell Group, Ross County, ca. 1922-1925. The object is held in the Ohio History Connection Archaeology Collection. The Hopewell Mound Group, the type site for the Hopewell Culture, is located along the North Fork of Paint Creek in Union Township, Ross County, Ohio. When first surveyed in the mid-1800s the mound and earthwork complex, once referred to as the Clark Works, contained at least 38 mounds of various sizes within a 111-acre, somewhat “D”-shaped walled enclosure. An attached segmented square enclosed an additional 18 acres. The most notable mound in the group is referred to as Mound 25, a three-part conjoined mound that once measured 35 feet high by 500 feet long and 180 feet wide at the base. It was this mound more than any other that was the source of many of the iconic artifacts that defined the Hopewell Culture (100 BC-AD 400). The Hopewell Mound Group was extensively investigated in the early 1890s by Warren Moorehead to collect material for the 1892 World’s Columbian Exposition. This material is now housed in the Chicago Field Museum. In the 1920s Henry Shetrone of the Ohio State Archaeological and Historical Society (now the Ohio History Connection) also did extensive field work there, assembling an impressive collection of materials for the museum. Today the Hopewell Mound Group and several other related Ross County earthwork complexes are overseen by the National Park Service as the Hopewell Culture National Historic Park. The Hopewell Mound Group is one of seven Ohio Hopewell Ceremonial Earthwork sites presently under consideration by the United States Department of the Interior for nomination as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: AL00261
Subjects: Ross County (Ohio); Ohio History--Natural and Native Ohio; Archaeology--United States--History; Effigy pipes; Hopewell Culture (A.D. 1–400)
Places: Ross County (Ohio)
 

Description: Eagle effigy boatstone, constructed of pipestone and river pearl, from the Ohio Hopewell culture, Middle Woodland period, 200 BC-400 AD. Excavated from the Hopewell Group, Ross County, ca. 1922-1925. The object is held in the Ohio History Connection Archaeology Collection. The Hopewell Mound Group, the type site for the Hopewell Culture, is located along the North Fork of Paint Creek in Union Township, Ross County, Ohio. When first surveyed in the mid-1800s the mound and earthwork complex, once referred to as the Clark Works, contained at least 38 mounds of various sizes within a 111-acre, somewhat “D”-shaped walled enclosure. An attached segmented square enclosed an additional 18 acres. The most notable mound in the group is referred to as Mound 25, a three-part conjoined mound that once measured 35 feet high by 500 feet long and 180 feet wide at the base. It was this mound more than any other that was the source of many of the iconic artifacts that defined the Hopewell Culture (100 BC-AD 400). The Hopewell Mound Group was extensively investigated in the early 1890s by Warren Moorehead to collect material for the 1892 World’s Columbian Exposition. This material is now housed in the Chicago Field Museum. In the 1920s Henry Shetrone of the Ohio State Archaeological and Historical Society (now the Ohio History Connection) also did extensive field work there, assembling an impressive collection of materials for the museum. Today the Hopewell Mound Group and several other related Ross County earthwork complexes are overseen by the National Park Service as the Hopewell Culture National Historic Park. The Hopewell Mound Group is one of seven Ohio Hopewell Ceremonial Earthwork sites presently under consideration by the United States Department of the Interior for nomination as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: AL00262
Subjects: Ross County (Ohio); Ohio History--Natural and Native Ohio; Archaeology--United States--History; Hopewell Culture (A.D. 1–400); Artifacts
Places: Ross County (Ohio)
 

Description: Frog effigy pipe from the Ohio Hopewell culture, 100 BC-500 AD. Excavated from Esch Mound in Huron County, Ohio. The object is held in the Ohio Historical Society Archaeology Collection. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: AL00263
Subjects: American Indians--Archaeology; Ohio History--Natural and Native Ohio; Archaeology--United States--History; Hopewell Culture (A.D. 1-400);
Places: Huron County (Ohio)
 

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)