Serpent Mound panoramic photograph   Save
Ohio History Connection Archives/Library
Description: Panoramic photograph showing five individuals standing at Serpent Mound, a monumental effigy mound in northern Adams County, Ohio. This earthwork depicts a serpent uncoiling along a prominent ridgetop; 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. 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 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. 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 (now the Ohio History Connection). Serpent Mound is now recognized as a National Historic Landmark. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: OVS7483
Subjects: Great Serpent Mound (Ohio); Earthworks (Archaeology); Mounds--Ohio--Adams County;
Places: Adams County (Ohio)