Description: Photograph showing a copper whistle recovered during excavation of a burial in the Rockhold Mound Group. The Rockhold Mound Group is located in Paxton Township, Ross County, Ohio, a little more than a mile west of Bainbridge. The group originally consisted of 4 widely-spaced mounds arranged in a somewhat arcing cluster. The mound group occupied both the upper and lower terraces along the south bank of Paint Creek just east of Massie’s Run. The mounds were described as rather low in profile, about two feet high. Although none of the diameters of any of the mounds were apparently ever recorded, it can be estimated that 80 feet or less would be the nominal diameter for such low-profile structures. In 1929 Emerson Greenman of the Ohio History Connection investigated two mounds of the group he named Rockhold Mounds 1 and 2 in reference to the land owner, Perry Rockhold. Greenman found that both mounds contained burials accompanied by artifacts made from copper, mica and galena, considered diagnostic of the Hopewell Culture (100 BC - AD 400), indicating that the Hopewell constructed these mounds and likely the entire mound group. A third mound was investigated by a private individual in the 1940s and produced similar results. A field survey of the site was conducted in 1973 and it was noted that at that time the fourth mound measured approximately 12 inches high by 106 feet north-south and 87 feet east-west, and was covered with coarse brush. It was further noted that overall the mound appeared flattened and spread out from plowing with approximately two-thirds of what might have been its original structure still intact. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: AV17_B04F02_E12_006
Subjects: Hopewell Culture (A.D. 1–400); Mounds -- Ohio -- Ross County; Earthworks (Archaeology); Excavations (Archaeology)--Ohio; Artifacts
Places: Ross County (Ohio)
 

Description: Photograph showing a copper whistle recovered during excavation of a burial in the Rockhold Mound Group. The Rockhold Mound Group is located in Paxton Township, Ross County, Ohio, a little more than a mile west of Bainbridge. The group originally consisted of 4 widely-spaced mounds arranged in a somewhat arcing cluster. The mound group occupied both the upper and lower terraces along the south bank of Paint Creek just east of Massie’s Run. The mounds were described as rather low in profile, about two feet high. Although none of the diameters of any of the mounds were apparently ever recorded, it can be estimated that 80 feet or less would be the nominal diameter for such low-profile structures. In 1929 Emerson Greenman of the Ohio History Connection investigated two mounds of the group he named Rockhold Mounds 1 and 2 in reference to the land owner, Perry Rockhold. Greenman found that both mounds contained burials accompanied by artifacts made from copper, mica and galena, considered diagnostic of the Hopewell Culture (100 BC - AD 400), indicating that the Hopewell constructed these mounds and likely the entire mound group. A third mound was investigated by a private individual in the 1940s and produced similar results. A field survey of the site was conducted in 1973 and it was noted that at that time the fourth mound measured approximately 12 inches high by 106 feet north-south and 87 feet east-west, and was covered with coarse brush. It was further noted that overall the mound appeared flattened and spread out from plowing with approximately two-thirds of what might have been its original structure still intact. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: AV17_B04F02_E12_005
Subjects: Hopewell Culture (A.D. 1–400); Mounds -- Ohio -- Ross County; Earthworks (Archaeology); Excavations (Archaeology)--Ohio; Artifacts
Places: Ross County (Ohio)
 

Description: Human head sculpture made of clay by the Ohio Hopewell culture, 100 BC-500 AD. This small clay effigy of a human head (89.8 mm x 75.6 mm) is mottled dark reddish-gray, light reddish-brown, black and dark reddish-brown. The eyes are oval and eye sockets are formed by deeply incised lines. Distinct eyebrow ridges with some incised lines indicate eyebrows above the right eye. Nose has two indentations denoting nostrils. The mouth is slightly open and a ridge denotes the lower lip. There are projections on either side for ears, well-shaped with ear and ear lobes. Behind the left ear, running from the base to the forehead, is a gash that measures 76.6 mm in length. Behind the right ear, there is a gash running from the top of skull to the base that measures 74 mm in length. Base is flat where the neck would begin. There is a 19.7 mm hole in the base, roughly circular in shape, that extends into the head. There is also a hole that is 3 mm in diameter. The back of the head is somewhat flattened. On the top are two holes, roughly 6.3 mm in diameter, that extend into the head. Gash across the forehead measures 41.7 mm in length. This item has been extensively restored, and is held in the Ohio History Connection Archaeology Collection. It was recovered during the excavation of Seip Mound No. 1 in 1927. Seip Mound, sometimes referred to as the Seip-Pricer Mound, is located in Paxton Township, Ross County, Ohio. It was constructed between 100 BC and AD 400 by people of the Hopewell Culture and situated at the center of Seip Earthworks, an extensive earthwork complex occupying more than 150 acres along Paint Creek in southwest Ross County. There was also a large three-part burial mound associated with the earthworks later referred to as the Seip Conjoined Mound to avoid confusion. When first surveyed, Seip Mound measured 240’ x 130’ x 30’ and counted as one of the four or five largest Hopewell burial mounds ever built. Between 1925 and 1928 Henry Shetrone of the Ohio History Connection conducted excavations at Seip Mound, recovering over 100 burials and numerous funerary and other objects made of exotic materials. Shetrone also recovered series of “Great Pipes” that were uncharacteristic of Hopewell themes and designs and likely of southern origin. This strongly suggests at least cultural ties to contemporary groups below the Ohio River. During the 1970s investigations within the earthworks uncovered possible workshop and domestic locations indicating that overall the site was much more complex than first imagined. Originally a property of the Ohio History Connection, both Seip Mound and the associated earthworks are presently overseen by the National Park Service as part of the Hopewell Culture National Historic Park. It is also one of seven Ohio Hopewell Ceremonial Earthwork sites presently under consideration for nomination as a UNESCO World Heritage Site by the United States Department of the Interior. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: AL00279
Subjects: Hopewell Culture (A.D. 1-400) (A.D. 1–400); American Indians--Archaeology; Archaeology--United States--History; Seip Mound (Ross County, Ohio); Artifacts
Places: Ross County (Ohio)