Serpent Mound State Memorial, Ohio

Map showing the landscape around Fort Ancient and the Little Miami River Valley Sketch Map of Serpent Mound Park by F. W. Putnam (1871).
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 Serpent Mound State Memorial is a Archaeological Park preserve in Adams, County Ohio. It preserves the largest serpent effigy in the world. The Great Serpent Mound is an earthworks 1,348 feet long, about five feet high, and twenty feet wide. The mound represents a great snake with sinuous cuves and a coiled tail. In its mouth is is swallowing a large egg. There are no burials within the mound and it is interpreted to have been used for ceremonial purposes. Two burial mounds in the vicinity were created in the Adena (Hopewell) culture tradition (between 800 B.C. - A.D. 100). A third mound was created in the Fort Ancient culture tradition (A.D. 1000-1650).

The earthworks are located on an elevated terrace above the Bush Creek Valley.
Great Serpent Mound is also located within a nearly mile wide geologic feature known as a cryptoexplosive structure—a large geologic structure interpreted as an ancient asteroid impact crater that formed in the late Paleozoic era. The exposed bedrock in the vicinity of Serpent Mound is complexly faulted in a great circular structure.
Map of Miamisburg Mound State Memorial Park: Click here or on the map to see a larger view.
Click here to see a larger scale map of Ohio showing the location of Miamisburg Mound State Memorial Park.
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Geologic structure and landscape map of the Serpent Mound area. A historical marker describing the Serpent Mound. View of large sinuous bends of the Great Serpent Mound as visible from the park's observation tower.. View of large sinuous bends of the Great Serpent Mound along a park trail.
Map of the Serpent Mound cryptoexplosicve structure Historical marker describing Serpent Mound Serpent Mound view from a park observation tower. View of part of Serpent Mound and park trail.
The skeleton of a large snake is on display for comparison to the Great Serpent Mound Interpretive sign on earthworks along the park trail showing orientation of the summer solstice relative to earthwork structures. Interpretive sign on earthworks along the park trail showing orientation of the winter solstice relative to earthwork structures. View of Bush Creek Valley from the park observation tower.
Serpent skeleton on a park display. Interpretive sign for summer solstice orientation of features Interpretive sign for winter solstice orientation of features Brush Creek Valley next to bluff with Serpent Mound
Hollow egg in mouth of serpent effigy mound Sinuous bed in Serpent Mound earthworks A burial mound near Serpent Mound Box turtle in dry leaves
Egg in serpent's mouth Serpent Mounds Late burial mound Box turtle
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The URL is: https://gotbooks.miracosta.edu/gonp/hocu/html2/thumbs_serpent_mound.htm
Last modified:5/11/2019