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17-574: The Portsmouth Earthworks are a large prehistoric mound complex constructed by the Native American Adena and Ohio Hopewell cultures of eastern North America (100 BCE to 500 CE). The site was one of the largest earthwork ceremonial centers constructed by the Hopewell and is located at the confluence of the Scioto and Ohio Rivers , in present-day Ohio . The majority of the mound complex site

34-525: A technical term in archaeology, is not generally in favor in the rest of the world. More specific local terminology is preferred, and each of these terms has its own article (see below). Biggs site The Biggs site (15Gp8), also known as the Portsmouth Earthworks Group D , is an Adena culture archaeological site located near South Shore in Greenup County, Kentucky . Biggs

51-558: Is a large square enclosure with two series of parallel walls extending from the northeast and southwest corners. The Old Fort Earthworks consist of several sites, including the Old Fort Earthworks (15Gp1), Mays Mound (15Gp16), Hicks Mound (15Gp265), Stephenson Mound (15Lw139), and several other unnamed mounds and enclosures. It is also the location of Lower Shawneetown , a protohistoric /historic Fort Ancient and Shawnee settlement and colonial trading post which are all part of

68-652: Is now covered by the city of Portsmouth in Scioto County, Ohio . Several individual sections of the complex have been included on the National Register of Historic Places . Originally, the Portsmouth Earthworks consisted of three sections extending over twenty miles of the Ohio River valley, crossing from Ohio to Kentucky in several places. It was surveyed and mapped by E. G. Squier in 1847 for inclusion in

85-473: Is the Biggs site (15Gp8) or Portsmouth Earthworks Group D. Biggs was an Adena culture circular causewayed embankment 5 feet (1.5 m) high by 30 feet (9.1 m) wide encircling a ditch 6 feet (1.8 m) deep and 25 feet (7.6 m) across. They encompassed an area 90 feet (27 m) in diameter. In the center of the ditch was a conical tumulus 8 feet (2.4 m) high and 40 feet (12 m) in diameter. It

102-551: The Lower Shawneetown Archeological District , along with the Thompson and Hansen sites Group C was a large series of concentric circles surrounding a high central conical mound. This section of the earthworks is located in Greenup County, Kentucky several miles to the east of South Shore , but connected to Group B by a causeway that ran down to the Ohio River. Located to the west or downriver of Group C

119-668: The Mississippian culture , for example, may have supported temples , the houses of chiefs , council houses , and may have also acted as a platform for public speaking. Other mounds would have been part of defensive walls to protect a certain area. The Hopewell culture used mounds as markers of complex astronomical alignments related to ceremonies. Mounds and related earthworks are the only significant monumental construction in pre-Columbian Eastern and Central North America. peoples. Mounds are given different names depending on which culture they strive from. They can be located all across

136-589: The complex. Under the name Horseshoe Mound it was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1974. In 2019 two independent scholars proposed that the Group B mounds represent part of an eight-mile-long female effigy mound , which the authors propose depicts "The Woman Who Fell from the Sky," a Native American myth about human origins found among the indigenous peoples of North America. If true, this would make it

153-479: The hill is related to particular burial customs. While the term "mound" may be applied to historic constructions, most mounds in the United States are pre-Columbian earthworks, built by Native American peoples. Native Americans built a variety of mounds, including flat-topped pyramids or cones known as platform mounds, rounded cones, and ridge or loaf-shaped mounds. Some mounds took on unusual shapes, such as

170-570: The longest effigy mound known, although much of the structure was destroyed by the city of Portsmouth. The authors link the mounds to the story of He-nau-ee, as told by the Meskwaki Indians, possible descendants of the Hopewell mound builders. Other archeologists have cast doubt on the theory. Also known as the Old Fort Earthworks (15Gp1) it is a series of rectangular enclosures near South Portsmouth in Greenup County, Kentucky . Group A

187-666: The outline of cosmologically significant animals. These are known as effigy mounds . Some mounds, such as a few in Wisconsin , have rock formations, or petroforms within them, on them, or near them. While these mounds are perhaps not as famous as burial mounds, like their European analogs, Native American mounds also have a variety of other uses. While some prehistoric cultures, like the Adena culture , used mounds preferentially for burial, others used mounds for other ritual and sacred acts, as well as for secular functions. The platform mounds of

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204-534: The seminal archaeological and anthrolopological work Ancient Monuments of the Mississippi Valley . The northernmost section was made up of a number of circular enclosures, two large horseshoe-shaped enclosures, and three sets of parallel-walled roads leading away in different directions. One set of walled roads extends across the Ohio River into South Portsmouth, Kentucky to the southwest to Portsmouth Earthworks, Group A . Another set of walled roads lead to

221-597: The seminal archaeological and anthrolopological work Ancient Monuments of the Mississippi Valley . They described the earthwork as being a causewayed embankment 5 feet (1.5 m) high by 30 feet (9.1 m) wide encircling a ditch 6 feet (1.8 m) deep and 25 feet (7.6 m) across. They encircled an area 90 feet (27 m) in diameter. In the center of the ditch was a conical tumulus 8 feet (2.4 m) high and 40 feet (12 m) in diameter. [REDACTED] Media related to Biggs site at Wikimedia Commons This Greenup County, Kentucky state location article

238-418: The southeast where it also crossed the Ohio River and lead to Portsmouth Earthworks, Group C . The third set of walled roads lead to the northwest for an undetermined distance, and may point to Tremper Mound and Works , some 5 miles away. The City of Portsmouth maintains a public park which includes one of the remaining horseshoe-shaped enclosures, known as Mound Park, it is the only publicly accessible part of

255-530: The world in spots such as Asia, Europe and the Americas. "Mound builders" have more commonly been associated with the mounds in the Americas. They all have different meanings and sometimes are constructed as animals and can be clearly seen from aerial views. Kankali Tila is a famous mound located at Mathura in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh . A Jain stupa was excavated here in 1890-91 by Dr. Fuhrer. Mound, as

272-469: Was not only mapped by Squier and Davis, they also included a small illustration of the feature. Mound In the archaeology of the United States and Canada , a mound is a deliberately constructed elevated earthen structure or earthwork , intended for a range of potential uses. In European and Asian archaeology, the word " tumulus " may be used as a synonym for an artificial hill, particularly if

289-523: Was originally a concentric circular embankment and ditch surrounding a central conical burial mound with a causeway crossing the ring and ditch. It was part of a larger complex, the Portsmouth Earthworks located across the Ohio River , now mostly obliterated by agriculture and the developing city of Portsmouth, Ohio . The site was surveyed and mapped by E. G. Squier in 1847 for inclusion in

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