Why Did People Create the Great Serpent Mound?

By Dig Labs Contributors

Source: Dig Labs Project

We investigate the stratigraphic layers and archaeological artifacts associated with the site to refine its timeline.

Note to reader:
We hope you find this article useful—it’s an ongoing Observatory research project that will be updated.
If you have expertise or insight on the topic that you think could be useful, please send us a note.

Join Our Collaborative Research

Note to reader:
We hope you find this article useful—it’s an ongoing Observatory research project that will be updated.
If you have expertise or insight on the topic that you think could be useful, please send us a note.

Join Our Collaborative Research

“Why Did People Create the Great Serpent Mound?” by Dig Labs Contributors is licensed by the Observatory under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0). For permissions requests beyond the scope of this license, please see Observatory.wiki’s Reuse and Reprint Rights guidance.Last edited: June 29, 2026

Send us a note about this articleDonate to the Observatory

Introduction

The Great Serpent Mound in Ohio is a 1,348-foot-long effigy mound depicting a massive snake with a coiled tail. While its exact date and builders are still debated, its astronomical alignments with the solstices and lunar cycles suggest it served a major ceremonial and calendrical function. It remains one of the most significant examples of prehistoric earthwork in the world.

We investigate the stratigraphic layers and archaeological artifacts associated with the site to refine its timeline.