How old is the Adena mound?
Recent studies of the historic Serpent Mound site has determined scientifically that the site was built more than 2000 years ago by members of the Adena Culture. Initially it was thought that this earthwork was only about 500 years old.
How long did it take to build the Adena mound?
Most of the mounds range in size from 20 to 300 feet in diameter. However, the conical-type Grave Creek Mound in Moundsville, West Virginia, is much larger. The largest of Adena’s burial mounds, standing at 62 feet high and is 240 feet in diameter, is thought to have been built over a period of 100 years or more.
What city is the Serpent Mound in?
Serpent Mound is located on a high plateau overlooking Ohio Brush Creek in Adams County, Ohio, about 73 miles east of Cincinnati. It’s on the site of an ancient meteor impact dating to around 300 million years ago; the crater, measuring 8 to 14 km (5.0 miles to 8.7 miles) in diameter, is known as Serpent Mound crater.
How tall were mounds in the Adena culture?
The Late Adena culture tended to cluster mounds together, such as in the Wolfe Plains Group. These structures, particularly the largest examples, were built up over many years as burials were stacked upon those of the initial inhabitants; in many cases the mounds could reach over thirty feet tall.
Where did the Adena people get their artifacts from?
From artifacts unearthed at these sites, it appears that the Adena people travelled far and wide across the country. Although their mounds were constructed in a relatively small geographic region in North America, items found in some of these mounds came from 1000s of miles away.
Where was the Adena mound in Chillicothe located?
Adena Mound, the ‘type site’ for the Adena culture, was located on the Adena mansion built for Thomas Worthington in Chillicothe, Ohio. It was excavated by William C. Mills in 1904 and now only the base survives. This image shows the mound with the top sliced off and Mills’ archaeological team on the top for a scaled reference.
How tall is the Adena giant in West Virginia?
The 35-foot (11 m) high and 175-foot (53 m)-diameter conical mound, is the second largest of its type in West Virginia. Antiquarians also wrote about the anthropology of the tall ones in prehistoric mounds. The following is an account from Chillicothe, Ill. from American Antiquarian, Vol 2 No 1 (1879):