Ohio's Serpent Mound Makes First Cut: Among 14 U.S. Sites Evaluated As Earth's Most Significant

CINCINNATI (TDB) -- Interior Secretary Dirk Kempthorne last week disclosed the locations of U.S. cultural and natural treasures considered candidates for inclusion on the United Nations' World Heritage list. Three of the sites are in Ohio, which means the state eventually could be recognized as having some of "the most significant cultural and natural treasures on the planet."

Serpent Mound, the mammoth and mysterious effigy of a 1,330-foot snake in Adams County, made the cut. It dates back to about 1120 AD. Others picked include a collection numbering four places in and around Dayton that are associated with the Wright Brothers, who built the world's first airplane and pioneered human flight. Also on the Interior Department's list are more than 40 earthworks left by the Native American Hopewell culture -- the people some call moundbuilders --- who left behind gigantic structures in precise geometric shapes more than 1,000 years ago. About the ancient structures in Ohio, the Interior Department noted:

"These are among the largest earthworks in the world that are not fortifications or defensive structures, and they contain extensive deposits of finely crafted artifacts. Their scale is imposing by any standard: the Great Pyramid of Cheops would have fit inside the Wright Earthworks; four structures the size of the Colosseum of Rome would fit in the Octagon; and the circle of monoliths at Stonehenge would fit into one of the small auxiliary earthwork circles adjacent to the Octagon."

The full text of Interior Secretary Kempthorne's announcement is HERE. At the moment, there are 851 sites across the globe on the UNESCO list. In 1972, President Richard Nixon proposed the treaty that deemed it important to preserve natural and cultural heritage sites of global significance. There are now 184 signatory countries. Kempthorne said:

"I am pleased to be able to take the necessary first step so that these truly significant American natural and cultural properties can be considered for the most prestigious international recognition accorded to properties of global importance. Each of these sites is important to Americans as well as others around the world."

The Ohio Arhaeology Blog has the news, too, and deserves kudos for pushing people to write letters urging the Interior Department to recognize Ohio's treasures. So did the Ohio Historical Society.

A Bellwether Blast From The Past: Winter Solstice At Ohio's Serpent Mound

[ED. NOTE: The post below from the Daily Bellwether's archives is about Serpent Mound's likely importance as a celestial observatory that was used to note the start of winter in pre-Colombian Ohio. It originally appeared a year ago on Thursday, December 21, 2006. Now there is another activity being promoted to top stargazing as a technique that takes takes the chill out of the long night. Global Orgasm Day is in its second year and timed for the solstice.]

Ancients & Ohio's Stonehenge: Awaiting the Winter Solstice
PEEBLES, Ohio (TDB) -- Archaeologists now are openly speculating the massive earthen serpent that uncoils on a plateau near Ohio's Brush Creek Valley was a solar observatory built by ancient people who used it to mark the arrival of today's Winter Solstice, which starts in North America at 7:22 p.m. The shortest day of the year can be tracked at Serpent Mound -- which many believe is a mysterious monument the equal of Stonehenge -- by watching the sun align with the snake's coils.

Keith Bengsten, who manages the south-central Ohio site for the state's Historical Society, opened it up at 6 a.m. today so people could be present at sunrise. He was expecting a group, but told The Daily Bellwether that they failed to show. Bengsten said he's seen the sunset align with the 1,330-foot long serpent's head for the Summer Solstice, and has witnessed a similar phenomenon with the coils at the start of winter.

''I do believe it is true that the people who built it had a purpose. They lined it up for the Winter Solstice, and summer. I've seen it happen. You couldn't see anything this morning because of clouds and rain. I know it's true. I've seen it,'' Bengsten said.

A scientific journal for researchers who study the past, Archaeology, published a report 10 years ago suggesting that the snake was built about 1070 A.D., by the Mississippian people, a Native American culture that dominated the Ohio, Tennessee and Cumberland river valleys and had a fairly advanced civilization with powerful chiefs and kings. They cultivated maize and had to know the arrival of the seasons to plan their agricultural calendar.

The Ohio Historical Society owns the site and says it has been a park for more than a century. Officially, it is not certain the snake has anything to do with the Winter Solstice.

''The head is aligned to the summer solstice sunset and the coils also may point to the winter solstice sunrise and the equinox sunrise. Today, visitors may walk along a footpath surrounding the serpent and experience the mystery and power of this monumental effigy,'' the historical society said, adding that the park has attracted visitors from all over the world.

Amy Roell, a program manager for the Hamilton County park system, notes in an online article that today's solstice was an important event in other times.

"For many cultures, the winter solstice was seen as a triumph of the sun over the growing darkness. In order to celebrate the 'rebirth' of the sun and its increasing amount of daylight, many would hold festivals and feast days. In addition, many of these same cultures built earthworks that coincided with the astronomical events of the equinoxes and solstices that perhaps helped them keep track of the 'calendar.'" Roell said.