Then we drove out to the Miamisburg Mound, a place I haven't visited in many years.
The Miamisburg Mound is now operated by the Ohio Historical Society. It is one of two of the largest conical mounds in the Eastern United States. A burial mound by the Adena Indians, it was built in the period from 800 BC to 1000 AD.
This sign is erected at the site by the OHS. To read more about the Miamisburg Mound, click here.
Here's a view from the base of the mound up along the 116 steps to the top.
A view from the top of the mound to the west (Pinehaven is somewhere in the distance, probably ten miles away). The mound sits above a rise, about a hundred feet higher than the Miami River which cuts through the valley below. The Adena's had a commanding view of the valley so many years ago. In the immediate foreground is the Mound Golf Course.
Tom begins the walk down the steps. Originally 68' in height, an excavation in 1869 reduced the overall height by three feet. What was found when a vertical shaft was sunk in the top? One skeleton covered in bark was found eight feet down; 36' down a "vault" was found surrounded by logs. Various layers of ashes and stones were also uncovered.
But the site has never been scientifically excavated. "Such a project would take several years of careful, scientifically-controlled work," according to the official Miamisburg website. Click here to read more.
Oh, how I enjoyed seeing and reading your detailed trek to the Miamisburg Indian Mound! A place of intrigue, no doubt.
ReplyDeleteSimilarly, have you ever been to the lesser known conical shaped mound, located in Franklin, Ohio...just south of the big mound?
Something to ponder: a wise historian had an idea that the hills of Hillgrove may have also been mounds - originally?!?
I don't remember hearing of any mounds in Franklin but there are documented mounds in Farmersville (actually u Jackson Twp.) a mile or two SW of here. I certainly remember the "wise historian" and his idea that Hillgrove might have been a mound. It's certainly out of place, isn't it? If it turns out to be an Indian Mound-in-the-making, I'll be buried atop it one of these days.
ReplyDeleteI find it interesting that Charles F Kettering was once owner of the Mound. I read in one of the history books written about Miamisburg that there were mounds that were removed when the Erie Canal was dug through Miamisburg. There must have been little regard for them in the wake of progress. I'm glad you visited your old neighborhood but I'm sure, like myself that it made you sad to see that it is not in the same homey condition it used to be. Still, I have all good memories about that part of town.
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