Turner Mound pottery figure photograph   Save
Ohio History Connection Archaeology Photograph Collection
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); Mounds--Ohio River Valley; Earthworks (Archaeology); Excavations (Archaeology)--Ohio; Artifacts
Places: Hamilton County (Ohio)