Serpent Mound: A Mysterious 400-Meter Snake Lurks In Ohio's River Valley

Some estimates suggest the site is 900 years old, while others indicate it's significantly older.



Serpent Mound overlooks Ohio Brush Creek in Adams County.

Image credit: Seen Unseen Media/Shutterstock.com


Ohio’s Serpent Mound might just be one of the most fascinating prehistoric sites in North America. Located in Adams County, it’s the largest known surviving example of a prehistoric effigy mound in the world. Its origins remain unclear. Who built this amazing monument and why? Fortunately, modern science is helping to shed light on the mystery.

It almost looks as if a giant serpent is lying beneath a shallow sprinkling of earth and grass, consisting of a gently raised mound that snakes around for 411 meters (over 1,300 feet), according to UNESCO. At one end of the swirling mound is a large oval shape, which has been interpreted as a snake’s head, eye, or perhaps an egg clenched in the reptile's mouth.

The monument is an example of an effigy mound, earthworks formed in the shape of animals that were built by Native American cultures in parts of present-day Wisconsin, Minnesota, Illinois, Iowa, and Ohio. Similar monuments have been found as far south as Peru, hinting at a strong cultural bond that runs through the Americas.

The origins of the Serpent Mound were hotly debated by archaeologists and anthropologists throughout the 20th century. Some effigy mounds feature human burials and physical artifacts that help to illuminate the people who constructed them. No such discoveries have been made at Serpent Mound, though.



More:
https://www.iflscience.com/serpent-mound-a-mysterious-400-meter-snake-lurks-in-ohios-river-valley-72234

(My bolding.)