Serpent Mound

The country's largest snake lives near Portsmouth, Ohio. It is 1/4 of a mile long, three-feet high, and it can regularly be seen devouring its prey.

Ok, ok. It's not a real snake. But it is one of the largest serpent effigies in North America. Serpent Mound is a mound of earth shaped like a gigantic snake, uncoiling in seven, deep curves. At one end, there is an oval that looks like an egg. Historians believe the oval is supposed to represent the prey the snake is attempting to devour.

An archaeologist from Harvard excavated Serpent Mound at 3850 State Route 73 in Peebles, Ohio, in the late 19th-century. He originally thought the Adena Indian culture created it, since there were two Adena burial mounds nearby. The Adena culture lasted from approximately 800 B.C. - A.D. 100, and the Adena people were Ohio's first farmers. They were known as hunters and gatherers, but they developed a more settled way of life by planting sunflowers and squash, etc.

However, there was a third burial mound near the serpent's tail that belonged to the Fort Ancient culture. That culture lasted from approximately A.D. 1000 - 1550, and the people were known for building circular or rectangular houses surrounded by an open plaza. They originally used burial mounds but later developed cemeteries for their dead.

There were no burials within Serpent Mound's walls--and very few artifacts. But archaeologists did later find wood charcoal that could be radiocarbon dated. So many historians believe Serpent Mound was actually created by the Fort Ancient culture, instead of the Adenas.

Unfortunately, no one has any idea why the Mound was built. Feel free to take a guess!