Serpent Mound is an internationally known National Historic Landmark built by the ancient American Indian cultures of Ohio. It is an effigy mound (a mound in the shape of an animal) representing a snake with a curled tail. Nearby are three burial mounds—two created by the Adena culture (800 B.C.–A.D.

Who built the Serpent Mound when did they build it?

The two leading theories are that the mound was built by either the Adena Culture (800 BC to 100 AD) around 320 BC, or the Fort Ancient Culture (1000 to 1750 AD) around 1070 AD.

Who built the Great Serpent Mound in Ohio?

When it was first discovered by European explorers, the indigenous Adena people were cited as the builders. Carbon dating done in 1996 placed the age of the Serpent Mound at 1070 A.D., meaning it was most likely the work of the Fort Ancient people.

Did the Hopewell build the Serpent Mound?

Serpent Mound, probably built several hundred years after the Hopewell-era sites, is the largest documented surviving example of an ancient effigy mound in the world.

When was the Great Serpent Mound created?

Located in southern Ohio, the 411-meter-long (1348-feet-long) Native American structure has been excavated a few times since the late 1800s, but the origins of Serpent Mound are still a mystery. Some estimates place the construction of the National Historic Landmark—also called Great Serpent Mound—at around 300 B.C.

Who built the mound?

Mound Builders were prehistoric American Indians, named for their practice of burying their dead in large mounds. Beginning about three thousand years ago, they built extensive earthworks from the Great Lakes down through the Mississippi River Valley and into the Gulf of Mexico region.

What was found beneath the Great Serpent Mound?

In fact, the head of the creature approaches a steep, natural cliff above the creek. The unique geologic formations suggest that a meteor struck the site approximately 250-300 million years ago, causing folded bedrock underneath the mound.

How many Indian mounds are in Ohio?

The State of Ohio has more than 70 Indian mounds, burial sites of the Adena and Hopewell tribes–the “mound builders”–who inhabited central and southern Ohio from roughly 3,000 BCE until the 16th century. Many of these sites are open to the public, including the dramatic and fascinating Serpent Mound.

Who created earth mounds in what is now the state of Ohio?

Between A.D. 1 and A.D. 500, the people of the Hopewell culture “built a large and elaborate complex of earthen mounds, walls, ditches, and ponds in the southern flowing drainages of the Ohio River valley,” wrote Mark Lynott, the former manager and supervisory archaeologist at the Midwest Archaeological Center, in his

How many serpent mounds are there?

These nine mounds and other closely related sites provide an exceptionally complete record of life at that time. The mound shaped like a serpent, the only one of its kind in Canada, is over 60 metres long and almost eight metres wide. Mississauga people of this area are now the proud stewards of these ancient sites.

Which celestial body is Serpent Mound aligned with?

An alignment with the Pole Star may indicate that the mound was used to determine true north and thus served as a kind of compass. Of note also is the fact that Halley’s Comet appeared in 1066, although the tail of the comet is characteristically straight rather than curved.

What happened to the Mississippian Mound Builders?

Another possibility is that the Mound Builders died from a highly infectious disease. Numerous skeletons show that most Mound Builders died before the age of 50, with the most deaths occurring in their 30s.

How big is the Great Serpent Mound?

Over 1,300 feet long, with an average height of four to five feet and a width of 20 to 25 feet, the serpent is located on a wedge-shaped, slightly convex ridge in the rolling hills of southern Ohio where it overlooks a waterway called Brush Creek. It first came to scholarly attention in the 1840s.

Who were the Mound Builders and where did they live?

They lived from the Great Lakes to the Gulf of Mexico and the Mississippi River to the Appalachian Mountains. The earliest mounds date from 3000 B.C. in Louisiana. It is believed that these mounds were used for burial, religious ceremonies, and as governmental centers.

Are there pyramids in Ohio?

Located just southwest of Hamilton, Ohio on a ridge overlooking the Great Miami River is Pyramid Hill Sculpture Park and the Ancient Sculpture Museum.

Why is Monks Mound such a remarkable monument?

Monks Mound is the largest Pre-Columbian earthwork in the Americas and the largest pyramid north of Mesoamerica. The beginning of its construction dates from 900–955 CE. This makes Monks Mound roughly the same size at its base as the Great Pyramid of Giza (13.1 acres / 5.3 hectares).

What happened to the Lakota Sioux?

The reinforced US Army defeated the Lakota bands in a series of battles, finally ending the Great Sioux War in 1877. The Lakota were eventually confined to reservations, prevented from hunting buffalo beyond those territories, and forced to accept government food distribution.

Why did natives build mounds?

Conical mounds were frequently constructed primarily for mortuary purposes. Rectangular, flat-topped mounds were primarily built as a platform for a building such as a temple or residence for a chief. Many later mounds were used to bury important people. Mounds are often believed to have been used to escape flooding.

Who built the Mississippi mounds?

Constructed around the year 250 by the ancestors of the Mississippian people called the Hopewell, the Great Circle and Octagon Earthworks most likely served as elaborate ceremonial structures where people gathered for large, seasonal rituals and ancestral rites.