Serpent Head Effigy   Save
Undocumented Artifacts from the First Ohioans Exhibit
Description: This large, copper cut-out is a replica of a Hopewell artifact. It is leaf-shaped and symmetrical along the long axis. Four lines intersect a central circle, which has a hole in the middle. There are four O-shaped design elements and multiple other curved shapes. The copper is grayish green in color. This piece may represent a serpent's head and comes from Hopewell Culture. In Ohio, the Hopewell Indians (100 B.C.-A.D. 500) built burial mounds and large earthen enclosures in geometric shapes (circles, squares, and octagons) to mark the places where the people gathered periodically to participate in many social and ceremonial events. Some of these sites were quite large - the Newark Earthworks complex extends over a 4-square-mile area. The Hopewell people also maintained a large trade network extending as far as the Rocky Mountains of Wyoming, the Florida coast and Appalachians, and northern Lake Superior. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: A4786_000069
Subjects: Effigies; Hopewell Culture (A.D. 1–400); Indian copperwork; Mound-builders;
Places: Undocumented Artifacts from the First Ohioans Exhibit