The Ancient Mound Builders:  The Great Serpent Mound

Two thousand years ago, nomadic hunter began to honor their dead by
heaping earth over their remain.  In time, mounds became larger and more
complex.  The mound-building culture of the southern Ohio Hopewell people
peaked about A.D.150.  The Great Serpent Mound is a quarter-mile-long
prehistoric earthwork in southern Ohio.  Though there are no know
descendants of the tribe who made it, it is believed to have been built
with the participation of the entire population and to have been used as a
place of wor ship.  For more than one thousand feet, the serpent body with
a partly coiled tail extends along the backbone of a ridge, as shown in
the engraving above.  At the serpent head is an oval embankment with a
heap of stones in the center.  An audience could h ave gathered at this
spot to watch or participate in a ceremony.