Serpent Mound - Definition and Overview

Serpent Mound is a 1,330 feet long and three feet high effigy mound located on a plateau in the Brush Creek Valley of Adams County, Ohio. It is the largest effigy in the United States. Serpent Mound represents an uncoiling snake that is eating an egg. The mound is located in a unique cryptoexplosion structure that contains faulted and folded bedrock, which is usually either produced by a meteorite or volcanic explosion. This cryptoexplosion structure has caused Serpent Mound to become misshapened over the years.

The origin of the Serpent Mound is still a matter of academic controversy. Radiocarbon dating of a wood charcoal found within the mound place the Fort Ancient culture (AD 1000-1550) as the builders of the mound [1] (http://www.ohiohistory.org/places/serpent/). Adena Indian (800 BC-AD 100) burial mounds are found near Serpent Mound, and since the Adena Indians were know for their earthworks, it has also been thought that they were the original builders.

The function or symbolic meaning of Serpent Mound is a mystery, but aspects of Serpent Mound are clearly aligned astronomically. The head is aligned to the summer solstice sunset and the snake’s coils align with the winter solstice sunrise and the equinox sunrise.

External links

• http://www.ohiohistoryteachers.org/03/04/sw07.shtml
• http://www.mnsu.edu/emuseum/archaeology/sites/northamerica/serpent.html