Origins of Ohio's Famous Serpent Mound is in Scotland
The similarities between the Serpent mound at Oban Scotland ("Ob" is Egyptian for Serpent) and the Famous Serpent mound in Ohio are unmistakable.
In 1871 Mr. Phene made known his discovery of an interesting mound in Argyleshire, Scotland, a figure and brief description of which is given by Miss Gordon Gumming in "Good Words" for March, 1872. This work has so much in common with the Ohio serpent that Miss Cumming's illustration is here copied for comparison, and I give a brief abstract of her description:
The mound is situated upon a grassy plain. The tail of the serpent rests near the shore of Loch Nell, and the mound gradually rises seventeen to twenty feet in height and is continued for three hundred feet, "forming a double curve like a huge letter S, and wonderfully perfect in anatomical outline. This we perceived the more perfectly on reaching the head, which lies at the western end.... The head forms a circular cairn, on which, at the time of Mr. Phene's first visit (several years previous), there still remained some trace of an altar (shown in the figure), which has since wholly disappeared, thanks to the cattle and herd boys." Mr. Phene excavated the circular cairn, or circle of stones, forming the head, and although it had been previously disturbed, he found "three large stones forming a megalithic chamber, which contained burnt bones, charcoal, and burnt hazel-nuts," and an implement of flint was also found during the excavation. "On removing the peat-moss and heather from the ridge of the serpent's back, it was found that the whole length of the spine was carefully constructed, with regularly and symmetrically placed stones, at such an angle as to throw off the rain.... The spine is, in fact, a long narrow causeway made of large stones, set like the vertebrae of some huge animal. They form a ridge, sloping off at each side, which is continued downward with an arrangement of smaller stones suggestive of ribs. The mound has been formed in such a position that the worshipers, standing at the altar, would naturally look eastward, directly along the whole length of the great reptile, and across the dark lake to the triple peaks of Ben Cruachan. This position must have been carefully selected, as from no other point are the three peaks visible."General Forlong, in commenting on this, says:
Here, then, we have an earth-formed snake, emerging in the usual manner from dark water, at the base, as it were, of a triple cone,—Scotland's Mount Hermon,—just as we so frequently meet snakes and their shrines in the East.
Is there not something more than mere coincidence in the resemblances between the Loch Nell and the Ohio serpent, to say nothing of the topography of their respective situations? Each has the head pointing west, and each terminates with a circular inclosure, containing an altar, from which, looking along the most prominent portion of the serpent, the rising sun may be seen. If the serpent of Scotland is the symbol of an ancient faith, surely that of Ohio is the same.
In 1871 Mr. Phene made known his discovery of an interesting mound in Argyleshire, Scotland, a figure and brief description of which is given by Miss Gordon Gumming in "Good Words" for March, 1872. This work has so much in common with the Ohio serpent that Miss Cumming's illustration is here copied for comparison, and I give a brief abstract of her description:
The mound is situated upon a grassy plain. The tail of the serpent rests near the shore of Loch Nell, and the mound gradually rises seventeen to twenty feet in height and is continued for three hundred feet, "forming a double curve like a huge letter S, and wonderfully perfect in anatomical outline. This we perceived the more perfectly on reaching the head, which lies at the western end.... The head forms a circular cairn, on which, at the time of Mr. Phene's first visit (several years previous), there still remained some trace of an altar (shown in the figure), which has since wholly disappeared, thanks to the cattle and herd boys." Mr. Phene excavated the circular cairn, or circle of stones, forming the head, and although it had been previously disturbed, he found "three large stones forming a megalithic chamber, which contained burnt bones, charcoal, and burnt hazel-nuts," and an implement of flint was also found during the excavation. "On removing the peat-moss and heather from the ridge of the serpent's back, it was found that the whole length of the spine was carefully constructed, with regularly and symmetrically placed stones, at such an angle as to throw off the rain.... The spine is, in fact, a long narrow causeway made of large stones, set like the vertebrae of some huge animal. They form a ridge, sloping off at each side, which is continued downward with an arrangement of smaller stones suggestive of ribs. The mound has been formed in such a position that the worshipers, standing at the altar, would naturally look eastward, directly along the whole length of the great reptile, and across the dark lake to the triple peaks of Ben Cruachan. This position must have been carefully selected, as from no other point are the three peaks visible."General Forlong, in commenting on this, says:
Here, then, we have an earth-formed snake, emerging in the usual manner from dark water, at the base, as it were, of a triple cone,—Scotland's Mount Hermon,—just as we so frequently meet snakes and their shrines in the East.
Is there not something more than mere coincidence in the resemblances between the Loch Nell and the Ohio serpent, to say nothing of the topography of their respective situations? Each has the head pointing west, and each terminates with a circular inclosure, containing an altar, from which, looking along the most prominent portion of the serpent, the rising sun may be seen. If the serpent of Scotland is the symbol of an ancient faith, surely that of Ohio is the same.
