Ancient site · Earthwork
Great Serpent Mound
Also known as Serpent Mound
A low earthen effigy of a snake about 411 metres long and 1 metre high, winding along a ridge above Ohio Brush Creek in southern Ohio, its head ending in an oval. It is the largest known serpent effigy in the world.
Who built it, and when, is still argued: Adena people around 300 BCE, with later repairs, or the Fort Ancient culture around 1000 CE. The ridge sits on the edge of an unusual crater, possibly made by an asteroid impact about 300 million years ago.
- Dates
- built c. 300 BCE (Adena) or c. 1000 CE (Fort Ancient) — disputed
- Still standing
- Yes
- Location
- 39.03° N, 83.43° W
How we know
Radiocarbon tests in 2014 and 2019 pointed to the Adena people about 300 BCE, but other archaeologists argue it was built by the Fort Ancient culture about 1,000 years later.
Nearby sites
- Hopewell Ceremonial Earthworks (Newark) c. 1–400 CE
- Grave Creek Mound c. 250–150 BCE
- Poverty Point c. 1700–1100 BCE
- Watson Brake c. 3500–3000 BCE
- Blackwater Draw (Clovis type site) Clovis level c. 11,100–10,800 BCE
- El Mirador main city c. 600 BCE – 150 CE (later reoccupied)
Related
- Adena culture archaeological culture
- The world in 300 BCE: Heirs of Alexander chapter