Serpent Mound:

The Serpent Mound in Ohio is the largest physical serpent effigy mound in the world. While there are several burial mounds around the Serpent mound site, the monument itself does not contain any human remains and the structure itself is therefore now primarily recognised as an astronomical observatory. The Serpent was recently named by National Geographic as one of the four �Sacred Places of the World� and is also a U.S. nominee to the UNESCO World Heritage sites.

Of all the prehistoric American mounds that have survived the test of time, the serpent mound is one of the most intriguing. In addition to the presence of the mound itself and the debate over the meaning of the 'egg' feature in its mouth, it was built overlooking a massive impact crater, which adds more myth than answers to the legend of the Great Serpent Mound.

 

The Serpent varies in height from less than a foot at its spiral beginning to more than three feet at its highest points. The serpent winds back and forth for more than eight hundred feet and seven coils, and ends in a triple-coiled tail. The serpent head has an open mouth extending around the east end of a 120-foot (37 m) long hollow oval feature.

This oval is said to possibly symbolize several things: A primordial egg, the sun, the body of a frog, the universe or merely the remnant of a platform. Of course, it is not conclusively known what its purpose is, but that only adds to its beautiful mystery.

The Great Serpent Mound is a 1,348-foot (411 m)-long, three-foot-high prehistoric effigy mound.

It is not known which culture exactly is responsible for the original construction of this magnificent Mound, but there are several clues we can use to deduce its makers. It is clear that many different cultures adapted this structure for their own needs, but who created it.?

Researchers have attributed construction of the mound to three different prehistoric indigenous cultures. Although it was once thought to be Adena in origin, now based on the use of more advanced technology, including carbon dating and evidence from 1996 studies, many scholars now believe that members of the Fort Ancient culture built it about 1070 CE (plus or minus 70 years).

FORT ANCIENT CULTURE:

Well known for mound building across Ohio, many Scholars believe the Fort Ancient culture created these mounds in 1070 B.C. However, this proto-historic group could have simply restored the Mounds after a prior culture may have abandoned them.

The Fort Ancient culture was named for was named because they inhabited warren County Ohio, and were believed to have created the ramparts of the large notched earthworks known as Fort Ancient. After more research, it was discovered that they simply inherited Fort Ancient from the Hopewell culture at least 1000 years before the Fort Ancient culture. (7) This suggests the Hopewell culture may have in fact created Serpents mound, but more conclusive evidence is needed.

ADENA CULTURE:

The Adena Culture (1000 B.C � 1 A.D) was the first believed progenitor of the Great Serpents mound, although it shows no similarity to other Adena structures, which are predominantly geometric in design.

This culture was suspected of creating the mounds due to several burial mounds nearby that housed Adena remains, but this theory was refuted due to Carbon-dating which placed the date of the mounds farther back than this group.

More important than the actual creation of these mounds, is the fact that several cultures used them for cosmological purposes. The Allegheny, Hopewell, Fort Ancient and Adena cultures drew intimate significance from their Earth works. All cultures had artefacts found in or near the mounds, but a conclusive answer has eluded us to this day.

(More About the American Mound Builders)

Article: Giant Skeletons Found At Serpent mound: (New York Times. March 5, 1894).

'Giants of Other Days: Recent Discoveries near Serpent Mound, Ohio'  From the Indianapolis Journal.

'Farmer Warren Cowen of Hilsborough, Ohio, while fox hunting recently discovered several ancient graves. They were situated upon a high point of land in Highland County, Ohio, about a mile from the famous Serpent Mound, where Prof. Putnam of Harvard made interesting discoveries. As soon as the weather permitted, Cowen excavated several of these graves. The graves were made of large limestone slabs, two and a half to three feet in length and a foot wide. These were set on edge about a foot apart. Similar slabs covered the graves. A single one somewhat larger was at the head and another at the foot. The top of the grave was two feet below the present surface.

Upon opening one of the graves a skeleton of upwards of six feet was brought to light. There were a number of stone hatchets, beads, and ornaments of peculiar workmanship near the right arm. Several large flint spear and arrow heads among the ribs gave evidence that the warrior had died in battle.

In another grave was the skeleton of a man equally large... Several pipes and pendants were near the shoulders. In other graves, Cowen made equally interesting finds. It seems that the region was populated by a fairly intelligent people, and that the serpent mound was an object of worship. Near the graves is a large field in which broken implements, fragments of pottery, and burned stones give evidence of a prehistoric village'.

(Other Giant Skeleton Discoveries)

 

Celestial Significance:

It is generally accepted today that the Serpent mound was designed to view celestial precession, one of the best places to do so is the head of the Snake. But the coils of the snake are predominantly Lunar in their orientation, capturing the full 18.6 year cycle. It is now suggested that the monuments was orientated for both Solar and Lunar observations.

In 1987 Clark and Marjorie Hardman published their finding that the oval-to-head area of the serpent (facing the crater) is aligned to the summer solstice sunset (3). 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 (4). The body of the snake is marked by several points of reference for different celestial Phenomenon as seen by the signs below:

Diagram to Illustrate the Astronomical Significance of Serpent Mound.

The Head of the Monument Overlooks the Impact Crater.

The journey along the Serpent mound begins at the tail. When you approach the mounds, the first thing that you witness is a perfect spiral. This spiral feature is a well noted phenomenon around the ancient world. There are several good examples in the America's, most notably those at Nazca and Chaco Canyon. Although the original significance  of the spiral and labyrinthine form are lost to us now, they are commonly suggested to be related to the 'inner journey'.

Service and Bradbery (9), write that the spiral refers to:

'...the belly and navel (Neumann 1955). It is also seen as representing a Navel of the earth - the Omphalos...E.A.S Butterworth in 'The Tree at the Navel of the Earth' calls it the Omphalos sign...now seen as very ancient and very widespread (Roscher 1913), This fits well into the idea of megalith as places of interchange between the cosmic forces of the sky and earth'. 10

(More about Spirals)

The Currently Obstructed View of the Crater (Photo Credits: Zakk Whitman)

The close woodland around the site prevents the astronomical events to be properly witnessed today.

(Photo Credits: Zakk Whitman)

Additional to the World-wide reverence to Serpents, the Americas have a similar reverence for Serpents that spans multiple cultures. The Cherokee have the legend of the Uktena, a large serpent with supernatural appearance and power. A similar snake-deity is found in ancient African and Australian aboriginal mythologies.

Here are several North American Serpent deity names:

Misi-kinepikw ("great snake")�Cree
Msi-kinepikwa ("great snake")�Shawnee
Misi-ginebig ("great snake")�Oji-Cree
Mishi-ginebig ("great snake")�Ojibwe
Pita-skog ("great snake")�Abenaki
Sinti lapitta�Choctaw
Unktehi or Unktehila�Dakota
Olobit�Natchez
Uktena�aniyunwiya

Loch Nell, Scotland.