Come see the Magic Impact Crater of Serpent Mound

256 million years ago, a Meteorite slammed into the earth in Ohio. About 1100 C.E., Native American build a Serpent on top of the sight of the impact. You can feel the magic while you walk next to the Serpent. The air is just full of magical. But before that you arrive at the Serpent…

The first place to stop is the Burial Mound which is just off the parking area. I took a moment of silence and thought about how much the person under this Burial Mound must have meant to his community that they would take time away from gathering food, hunting, make tools and household items, and spending time with family and friends at build his mount.

My next stop was the gift shop and museum. The museum is full of the history of the site, artifacts from the site, and other items. The gift shop is nice as well. I got a few items for my family. Plus I got to pay the $8 fee for parking that keeps the park going.

The next stop is the tower. It is a bunch of steps to climb but so worth it!

Above you can see the Serpent Mound in all its glory and the area around the place!

The tower is in the middle of the Serpent, therefore you can look both right and left to see the whole Serpent.

The path will take you completely around the Serpent Mound. The ground around the Serpent is magical. It feels like that of being in a church except you have the wind and weather elements around you which makes it even more magical.

The Great Serpent Mound is 1,348 feet long. They believe that the Serpent Mound may have been up to 5 feet at the highest point in the past. The weather has warn it down a bit.

The Serpent Mound is not a burial mound but rather an Effigies Mound, i.e. a symbol of god that the Native American worshipped. The Head of the Serpent Mound is a lined with the Summer Solstice, the longest day of the year. The coils are believe to line up with other Solstice during the year.

Another burial mound plus the site of what they believe was a village of the people who would come to worship the Serpent Mound. Many of the things that we know about the Serpent Mound are related to the work of Frederic Ward Putnam.

Brief History

In 1839, Frederic Ward Putnam was born in Salem, Massachusetts. He would lead his fellow students at Harvard in a academic revolt in the field of archeology. His contributions of scientific methods would make him, “The Father of American Archaeology”.

In 1867, he became one of the four founders of the American Naturalist which was a monthly peer review scientific journal. The journal is still being published today. In 1874, he became the curator of the Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology at Harvard University.

In 1886, while working at the Peabody Museum, Putnam would found the funding to purchase the land for preservation of the Serpent Mound and Burial Mounds. He would also lead the team that excavated many of the areas on and around the Serpent Mound.

His work and that of his student would create the American Archeological areas around the United States. He also creating work for many women and Native Americans in his field. He is one of those men that many don’t hear about unless they are studying Archaeology or Ethnology but he is one of the people who help us understand our history.

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Putman cowrote a book about his exploration in Ohio. Above is a hardcopy through Amazon or Free. Because it was written so long ago, the copyright is no longer available. The book is more technical but it does have a bit of interesting information about who’s farm they are on and things of that nature.

A Serpent’s Tale is about the race to get the archeologic information before it was taken over by farmers tilling the land. It is the history of discovering the Ohio Valley not just for settlers but for it’s rich early history.