 Atop a plateau overlooking the Brush
Creek Valley, Serpent Mound is the largest and finest serpent effigy in
the United States. Nearly a quarter of a mile long, Serpent Mound apparently
represents an uncoiling serpent.
In the late nineteenth-century Harvard University archaeologist Frederic
Ward Putnam excavated Serpent Mound and attributed the creation of the
effigy to the builders of the two nearby burial mounds, which he also
excavated. We now refer to this culture as the Adena (800 BC-AD 100).
A third burial mound at the park and a village site near the effigy's
tail belong to the Fort Ancient culture (AD 1000-1550).
A more recent excavation of Serpent Mound revealed wood charcoal that
could be radiocarbon dated. Test results show that the charcoal dates
to the Fort Ancient culture. This new evidence of the serpent's creators
links the effigy to the elliptical mound and the village rather than the
conical burial mounds.
The head of the serpent is aligned to the summer solstice sunset and
the coils also may point to the winter solstice sunrise and the equinox
sunrise. Today, visitors may walk along a footpath surrounding the serpent
and experience the mystery and power of this monumental effigy. A public
park for more than a century, Serpent Mound attracts visitors from all
over the world. The museum contains exhibits on the effigy mound and the
geology of the surrounding area.
More Information at the Ohio Historical Society
*description from OHS
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