Description: Photograph of a frog effigy pipe attributed to the Mississippian Culture. A handwritten caption on the reverse reads "Mrs. Collins Collection." View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: AV17_B04F01_E08_010
Subjects: Mississippian Culture (A.D. 900–1500); Mounds--Ohio River Valley; Excavations (Archaeology)--Ohio; Artifacts;
 

Description: Photograph showing a cast of a pottery figurine recovered from Altar 1 of Mound 4 of the Turner Mound Group. The figure is posed standing with its arms at its sides. The Turner Group of Earthworks was located on the Little Miami River in Anderson Township, Hamilton County, Ohio. By analysis of artifacts recovered there, it was dated to the Hopewell Period of about 100 BC - AD 400. The Turner Group was singular in design and uncomplicated in layout compared to many of the Hopewell geometric earthwork sites in the Scioto Valley. Turner primarily consisted of a raised 500’ circle connected to an expansive oval-shaped embankment called the Great Enclosure. A detached oval embankment called the Long Enclosure was located just to the south. There were 18 burial mounds associated with the Turner Group, mostly within the Great Enclosure. These were investigated by Putnam, Metz and others between 1882 and 1902. Workers unearthed a total of 91 burials and cremations with several burials interred in stone-lined graves. Grave offerings included objects of copper, mica and other exotic materials typical of the Hopewell culture. However, like the site itself, many Turner artifacts were atypical in terms of both theme and style when compared to Scioto Valley Hopewell objects. This includes a unique group of small terracotta human figurines in different poses and garb that were thought to depict the site’s original inhabitants. Most spectacular was a ring of 30 large, vented fire pits or furnaces found under Mound 3. Some suggest that their purpose was to smelt metallic ore, others to create ceremonial pyrotechnic effects. Unfortunately the Turner Group became a gravel quarry after World War II, leaving many such questions unanswered. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: AV17_B05F04_E04_03_01
Subjects: Hopewell Culture (A.D. 1-400) (A.D. 1–400); Mounds--Ohio River Valley; Earthworks (Archaeology); Excavations (Archaeology)--Ohio; Artifacts
Places: Hamilton County (Ohio)
 

Description: Photograph showing a cast of a pottery figurine recovered from the Turner Mound Group. The figure is posed kneeling, with its hands on its knees. The Turner Group of Earthworks was located on the Little Miami River in Anderson Township, Hamilton County, Ohio. By analysis of artifacts recovered there, it was dated to the Hopewell Period of about 100 BC - AD 400. The Turner Group was singular in design and uncomplicated in layout compared to many of the Hopewell geometric earthwork sites in the Scioto Valley. Turner primarily consisted of a raised 500’ circle connected to an expansive oval-shaped embankment called the Great Enclosure. A detached oval embankment called the Long Enclosure was located just to the south. There were 18 burial mounds associated with the Turner Group, mostly within the Great Enclosure. These were investigated by Putnam, Metz and others between 1882 and 1902. Workers unearthed a total of 91 burials and cremations with several burials interred in stone-lined graves. Grave offerings included objects of copper, mica and other exotic materials typical of the Hopewell culture. However, like the site itself, many Turner artifacts were atypical in terms of both theme and style when compared to Scioto Valley Hopewell objects. This includes a unique group of small terracotta human figurines in different poses and garb that were thought to depict the site’s original inhabitants. Most spectacular was a ring of 30 large, vented fire pits or furnaces found under Mound 3. Some suggest that their purpose was to smelt metallic ore, others to create ceremonial pyrotechnic effects. Unfortunately the Turner Group became a gravel quarry after World War II, leaving many such questions unanswered. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: AV17_B05F04_E04_01_01
Subjects: Hopewell Culture (A.D. 1-400) (A.D. 1–400); Mounds--Ohio River Valley; Earthworks (Archaeology); Excavations (Archaeology)--Ohio; Artifacts
Places: Hamilton County (Ohio)
 

Description: Multiple views showing the cast of a pottery figurine recovered from Altar 1 of Mound 4 of the Turner Mound Group. The figure is posed standing with arms at its sides. The Turner Group of Earthworks was located on the Little Miami River in Anderson Township, Hamilton County, Ohio. By analysis of artifacts recovered there, it was dated to the Hopewell Period of about 100 BC - AD 400. The Turner Group was singular in design and uncomplicated in layout compared to many of the Hopewell geometric earthwork sites in the Scioto Valley. Turner primarily consisted of a raised 500’ circle connected to an expansive oval-shaped embankment called the Great Enclosure. A detached oval embankment called the Long Enclosure was located just to the south. There were 18 burial mounds associated with the Turner Group, mostly within the Great Enclosure. These were investigated by Putnam, Metz and others between 1882 and 1902. Workers unearthed a total of 91 burials and cremations with several burials interred in stone-lined graves. Grave offerings included objects of copper, mica and other exotic materials typical of the Hopewell culture. However, like the site itself, many Turner artifacts were atypical in terms of both theme and style when compared to Scioto Valley Hopewell objects. This includes a unique group of small terracotta human figurines in different poses and garb that were thought to depict the site’s original inhabitants. Most spectacular was a ring of 30 large, vented fire pits or furnaces found under Mound 3. Some suggest that their purpose was to smelt metallic ore, others to create ceremonial pyrotechnic effects. Unfortunately the Turner Group became a gravel quarry after World War II, leaving many such questions unanswered. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: AV17_B05F04_E05_001
Subjects: Hopewell Culture (A.D. 1-400) (A.D. 1–400); Mounds--Ohio River Valley; Earthworks (Archaeology); Excavations (Archaeology)--Ohio; Artifacts
Places: Hamilton County (Ohio)
 

Description: Photograph showing a cast of a pottery figurine recovered from Altar 1 of Mound 4 of the Turner Mound Group. The figure is posed standing with its forearms crossed over its torso. The Turner Group of Earthworks was located on the Little Miami River in Anderson Township, Hamilton County, Ohio. By analysis of artifacts recovered there, it was dated to the Hopewell Period of about 100 BC - AD 400. The Turner Group was singular in design and uncomplicated in layout compared to many of the Hopewell geometric earthwork sites in the Scioto Valley. Turner primarily consisted of a raised 500’ circle connected to an expansive oval-shaped embankment called the Great Enclosure. A detached oval embankment called the Long Enclosure was located just to the south. There were 18 burial mounds associated with the Turner Group, mostly within the Great Enclosure. These were investigated by Putnam, Metz and others between 1882 and 1902. Workers unearthed a total of 91 burials and cremations with several burials interred in stone-lined graves. Grave offerings included objects of copper, mica and other exotic materials typical of the Hopewell culture. However, like the site itself, many Turner artifacts were atypical in terms of both theme and style when compared to Scioto Valley Hopewell objects. This includes a unique group of small terracotta human figurines in different poses and garb that were thought to depict the site’s original inhabitants. Most spectacular was a ring of 30 large, vented fire pits or furnaces found under Mound 3. Some suggest that their purpose was to smelt metallic ore, others to create ceremonial pyrotechnic effects. Unfortunately the Turner Group became a gravel quarry after World War II, leaving many such questions unanswered. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: AV17_B05F04_E04_02_01
Subjects: Hopewell Culture (A.D. 1-400) (A.D. 1–400); Mounds--Ohio River Valley; Earthworks (Archaeology); Excavations (Archaeology)--Ohio; Artifacts
Places: Hamilton County (Ohio)
 

Description: Photograph showing a close-up of the cast of a pottery figurine recovered from Altar 1 of Mound 4 of the Turner Mound Group. The figure is seen in profile and wears ear spools. The Turner Group of Earthworks was located on the Little Miami River in Anderson Township, Hamilton County, Ohio. By analysis of artifacts recovered there, it was dated to the Hopewell Period of about 100 BC - AD 400. The Turner Group was singular in design and uncomplicated in layout compared to many of the Hopewell geometric earthwork sites in the Scioto Valley. Turner primarily consisted of a raised 500’ circle connected to an expansive oval-shaped embankment called the Great Enclosure. A detached oval embankment called the Long Enclosure was located just to the south. There were 18 burial mounds associated with the Turner Group, mostly within the Great Enclosure. These were investigated by Putnam, Metz and others between 1882 and 1902. Workers unearthed a total of 91 burials and cremations with several burials interred in stone-lined graves. Grave offerings included objects of copper, mica and other exotic materials typical of the Hopewell culture. However, like the site itself, many Turner artifacts were atypical in terms of both theme and style when compared to Scioto Valley Hopewell objects. This includes a unique group of small terracotta human figurines in different poses and garb that were thought to depict the site’s original inhabitants. Most spectacular was a ring of 30 large, vented fire pits or furnaces found under Mound 3. Some suggest that their purpose was to smelt metallic ore, others to create ceremonial pyrotechnic effects. Unfortunately the Turner Group became a gravel quarry after World War II, leaving many such questions unanswered. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: AV17_B05F04_E05_02
Subjects: Hopewell Culture (A.D. 1–400); Mounds--Ohio River Valley; Earthworks (Archaeology); Excavations (Archaeology)--Ohio; Artifacts
Places: Hamilton County (Ohio)
 

Description: Broadside for a lecture to be given by Professor John Patterson MacLean on the subject of the Moundbuilders, former inhabitants of the Ohio and Mississippi Valleys. The lecture took place at Centenary E.M. Church in Cortland, New York, on November 24, 1886. The Hopewell culture, sometimes referred to as the Moundbuilders, existed in Ohio from about 100 B.C. to A.D. 500. Major Hopewell sites consist of geometric and hilltop enclosures along with burial mounds, primarily found in the river valleys of central and southern Ohio. John MacLean (1848-1939) was a Universalist minister, historian and archaeologist whose work included the books "A Manual of the Antiquity of Man" (1877), "The Mound Builders" (1879) and "Mastodon, Mammoth and Man" (1880). View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: OVS1154
Subjects: Archaeology--United States--History; Mounds--Ohio River Valley; Hopewell Culture (A.D. 1-400); Education;
Places: Cortland (New York)
 

Description: Photograph of Ohio author John P. MacLean (1848-1939). MacLean was born in Franklin, Ohio, and is remembered as a Universalist minister, historian and archaeologist. In addition to writings on Scottish history and the Shakers, his work included the books "A Manual of the Antiquity of Man" (1877), "The Mound Builders" (1879) and "Mastodon, Mammoth and Man" (1880). View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: SC3565_001
Subjects: Archaeology--United States--History; Mounds--Ohio River Valley; Hopewell Culture (A.D. 1-400); Education;
Places: Franklin (Ohio); Warren County (Ohio)
 

Description: Photograph of Ohio author John P. MacLean (1848-1939). MacLean was born in Franklin, Ohio, and is remembered as a Universalist minister, historian and archaeologist. In addition to writings on Scottish history and the Shakers, his work included the books "A Manual of the Antiquity of Man" (1877), "The Mound Builders" (1879) and "Mastodon, Mammoth and Man" (1880). View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: SC3565_002
Subjects: Archaeology--United States--History; Mounds--Ohio River Valley; Hopewell Culture (A.D. 1-400); Education;
Places: Franklin (Ohio); Warren 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) (A.D. 1-400);
Places: Cincinnati (Ohio); Hamilton County (Ohio)
 

Description: What is now Chillicothe in Ross County, Ohio, was once home to the Adena and Hopewell prehistoric Native American cultures. This map shows an earthwork known as the Hopeton Work, about four miles north of Chillicothe. The Adena culture (800 B.C. to 100 A.D.) built most of the earthworks and some of the circular enclosures in the Chillicothe area, including the Adena Mound. The Hopewell culture (100 B.C. to 400 A.D.) built monumental earthworks and burial mounds in geometric shapes, primarily in the Paint Creek Valley, a few miles from Chillicothe. Archaeologists E.G. Squier and E.H. Davis, with the help of surveyor and geologist Charles Whittlesey, systematically documented the Indian works and compiled them into an 1847 book called "Ancient monuments of the Mississippi Valley: Comprising the results of extensive original surveys and explorations." View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: AL08598
Subjects: Adena Culture (800 B.C.–A.D. 100); Hopewell Culture (A.D. 1-400) (A.D. 1–400); Mounds--Ohio River Valley; American Indians--Archaeology; Ohio River Valley--Antiquities; Earthworks (Archaeology)
Places: Chillicothe (Ohio); Ross County (Ohio)
 

Description: Serpent Mound is a spectacular effigy earthwork of a serpent uncoiling along a prominent ridgetop in northern Adams County, Ohio. 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.. 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, and Serpent Mound is now recognized as a National Historic Landmark. Archaeologists E.G. Squier and E.H. Davis, with the help of surveyor and geologist Charles Whittlesey, systematically documented the Indian works and compiled them into an 1847 book called "Ancient monuments of the Mississippi Valley: Comprising the results of extensive original surveys and explorations." View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: AL08639
Subjects: Mounds--Ohio River Valley; American Indians--Archaeology; Ohio River Valley--Antiquities; Earthworks (Archaeology); Adena Culture (800 B.C.–A.D. 100); Fort Ancient Culture (A.D. 1000–1650)
Places: Peebles (Ohio); Adams County (Ohio)