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Great Serpent MoundGreat Serpent Mound © Richard A. Cooke/Corbis

Great Serpent Mound

Adams County, southern Ohio. Mississippian (Eastern Woodlands). c. 1070 C.E. Earthwork/effigy mound.

Curator Note

"A massive 1,300-foot snake slithering across the Ohio landscape. Its head aligns with the summer solstice sunset, and some suggest it depicts a serpent swallowing an egg or a comet."

Form

  • Effigy Mound: A raised earthwork sculpted in the shape of an animal (zoomorphic).
  • Length: Approximately 1,300 feet long, undulating across the landscape.
  • Construction: Layers of clay, ash, and stones covered with topsoil.
  • No burials: Unlike conical mounds, this was not a tomb.
  • Precise curvature: The snake's curves match the topography of the ridge.

Function

  • Astronomical observatory: Used to track solar and maybe lunar events.
  • Ritual site: Likely a place for community ceremonies or spiritual procession.
  • Cosmological marker: Connected the earth to the celestial realm.
  • Territorial marker or totem for the snake clan.
  • To channel the spiritual power of the serpent (rebirth/fertility).

Content

  • A massive serpent uncoiling towards the edge of a cliff.
  • The head aligns with the summer solstice sunset.
  • The tail coils in a spiral (symbol of infinity or cyclical time?).
  • The oval shape at the mouth represents an egg, an eye, a frog, or Halley's Comet.
  • Seven curves in the body may correspond to lunar phases.

Context

  • Located in Ohio (Fort Ancient culture, c. 1070 C.E., influenced by Mississippian).
  • Built on the site of an ancient meteorite impact crater (magnetic anomaly).
  • Snakes were powerful symbols in Mississippian iconography (Underworld/Water).
  • Preserved due to the efforts of Frederic Ward Putnam (Harvard) in 1887.
  • Resembles the "horned serpent" of Native American mythology.