Among the earthworks of the Ohio valley, there is a small but very interesting class, which has hitherto most unaccountably escaped observation. They are not enclosures, nor can we with propriety designate them as mounds, according to the technical application of the term in this work. They bear some resemblance to the “animal-shaped mounds” of Wisconsin, to which public attention has recently been several times directed; but from their position, dependencies, and other circumstances, they seem clearly of a different origin and dedicated to a different purpose. For reasons which cannot fail to be obvious to every mind, after an examination of the illustrations which follow, they have been classed as works of sacred origin. Their character, so far as known, will appear from the examples here presented. What may have been their mythological signification, it is perhaps hopeless for us to inquire. They possess some truly remarkable analogies to remains of other portions of the globe, which will furnish the studious inquirer with matter for deeply interesting speculation.
PLATE XXXV. THE GREAT SERPENT, ADAMS COUNTY, OHIO.
Probably the most extraordinary earthwork thus far discovered at the West, is the Great Serpent, of which a faithful delineation is given in the accompanying plan. It is situated on Brush creek, at a point known as the “Three Forks,” on Entry 1014, near the north line of Adams county, Ohio. No plan or description has hitherto been published; nor does the fact of its existence appear to have been known beyond the secluded vicinity in which it occurs. The notice first received by the authors of these researches was exceedingly vague and indefinite, and led to the conclusion that it was a work of defence, with bastions at regular intervals,—a feature so extraordinary as to induce a visit, which resulted in the discovery here presented. The true character of the work was apparent on the first inspection.
[Illustration: XXXV. Great Serpent, Adams Co. Ohio.]
It is situated upon a high, crescent-form hill or spur of land, rising one hundred and fifty feet above the level of Brush creek, which washes its base. The side of the hill next the stream presents a perpendicular wall of rock, while the other [p097] slopes rapidly, though it is not so steep as to preclude cultivation. The top of the hill is not level but slightly convex, and presents a very even surface, one hundred and fifty feet wide by one thousand long, measuring from its extremity to the point where it connects with the table land. Conforming to the curve of the hill, and occupying its very summit, is the serpent, its head resting near the point, and its body winding back for seven hundred feet, in graceful undulations, terminating in a triple coil at the tail. The entire length, if extended, would be not less than one thousand feet. The accompanying plan, laid down from accurate survey, can alone give an adequate conception of the outline of the work, which is clearly and boldly defined, the embankment being upwards of five feet in height by thirty feet base, at the centre of the body, but diminishing somewhat towards the head and tail. The neck of the serpent is stretched out and slightly curved, and its mouth is opened wide as if in the act of swallowing or ejecting an oval figure, which rests partially within the distended jaws. This oval is formed by an embankment of earth, without any perceptible opening, four feet in height, and is perfectly regular in outline, its transverse and conjugate diameters being one hundred and sixty and eighty feet respectively. The ground within the oval is slightly elevated: a small circular elevation of large stones much burned once existed in its centre; but they have been thrown down and scattered by some ignorant visitor, under the prevailing impression probably that gold was hidden beneath them. The point of the hill, within which this egg-shaped figure rests, seems to have been artificially cut to conform to its outline, leaving a smooth platform, ten feet wide, and somewhat inclining inwards, all around it. The section «a b» will illustrate this feature.