Description: Photograph of Henry C. Shetrone at Ginther Mound field camp while on-site for an archaeological excavation, July 1922. Shetrone poses with a fish and fishing equipment outside a tent. Ginther Mound, so-named after landowner Mary Ginther, was a small flat-topped mound located along the east bank of the Scioto River about 2 miles upstream from Mound City in Ross County, Ohio. Other nearby mound and earthwork sites included the Cedar Bank Works to the north and the Hopeton Earthworks to the south. In their original survey Squier and Davis describe Ginther Mound as a truncated pyramid or raised square 120 feet on a side. From their cursory fieldwork they noted that Ginther Mound contained no remains but theorized it was constructed as a raised site for a temple. Henry Shetrone’s work there in 1922 confirmed that the mound structure itself contained no archaeological remains but was constructed over an extensive ceremonial floor containing fire places and post patterns. Later analysis of artifacts found on the floor indicate that it was most likely constructed by the Hopewell Culture between 100 B.C. and A.D. 400. As an earthwork form, flat topped mounds are rare in Ohio and are more commonly associated with the later Mississippian Culture (1000-1650 A.D.) of the southeast. Still, prominent and well-preserved examples also dating to the Hopewell Period can be found in Marietta. Lesser forms long since destroyed by development were also noted at Newark and Portsmouth. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: AV17_B02F04_E1_08
Subjects: Ginther Mound (Ohio); Earthworks (Archaeology); Excavations (Archaeology)--Ohio; Shetrone, Henry C., 1876-1954;
Places: Ross County (Ohio)
 

Description: Photograph taken during the excavation of the Mound City Group of mounds in Ross County, Ohio, 1920. Reverse reads, "Mound City. Man in hat is Shetrone," referring to Henry Shetrone, Curator of Archaeology for the Ohio State Archaeological and Historical Society. Mound City is a burial mound and earthwork complex located in Union Township, Ross County, Ohio. It is situated on the west bank of the Scioto River opposite the Hopeton Earthworks, a few miles north of Chillicothe. The site was constructed between approximately 100 BC and AD 400 by people of the Hopewell Culture and consists of 22 variously sized mounds surrounded a low, four-sided, earthen embankment that encloses about 13 acres. During World War I Mound City became part of an expansive army training facility called Camp Sherman. In an attempt to preserve as much of the site’s integrity as the army would allow, the mounds were flattened or truncated and camp buildings built over them and not intruded into them. Beginning in the 1920s, the Ohio State Archaeological and Historical Society (now the Ohio History Connection) funded restoration of the site and in 1923 the Mound City Group was elevated to the status of National Monument. Since 1992 Mound City has served as the focal point of the Hopewell Culture National Historic Park. Restoration lasted several years and was the beginning of the movement toward archaeology as a disciplined profession. One interesting aspect learned during the restoration process was that, for whatever reason, burials at Mound City were of a more egalitarian nature and not just of apparent high status as seen at other locations. The Mound City 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: AV17_B03F06e04_01_1
Subjects: Hopewell Culture (A.D. 1–400); Mounds--Ohio--Ross County; National parks & reserves; Excavations (Archaeology)--Ohio; Shetrone, Henry C., 1876-1954;
Places: Ross County (Ohio)