Travel Guide to the Newark, Ohio Adena Hopewell Burial Mounds and Earthworks

The Ohio Historical Society would like you to believe that the only earthworks in Newark, Ohio are the famous Octagon and Henge, but there are numerous burial mounds within the city. There are two sites that I have not posted, and those are the Roberts Mound and the Yost Works that are a little south of I-70.

Pickaway and Hocking County, Ohio Adena Burial Mound Tour

Pickaway and Hocking County, Ohio Adena Burial Mound Tour

A large burial mound is located just a few miles to the southeast of Circleville, in Pickaway County, Ohio of State Road 56.

This is the second largest burial mound in Ohio that is easily seen from State Road 56.

A few miles southeast on State Road 56 is this large burial mound in the backyard of this house.

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Just past Laurelville, in Hocking County, this mound can be seen in the field to the south.

On the ridge, just behind the last mound is this large burial mound with a deep ditch that surrounds it with four gateways aligned to the cardinal points.  In the foreground, the embankment of a small henge can be seen.

Colorized Print of the Marietta, Ohio Earthworks

Colorized Print of the Marietta, Ohio Earthworks

I colorized this print that was taken from an 1832 painting of the Marietta, Ohio Adena Hopewell platform mounds.

Get Directions, Photos and Histories of Hundreds of Sites in Ohio

Map of the Burial Mounds and Earthworks in Clark County, Ohio

Map of the Burial Mounds and Earthworks in Clark County, Ohio

Archaeological map of the burial mounds and earthworks in Clark county, Ohio. The only mound that is still visible is the Enon Mound in Mad River Township. Take a tour of all the large burial mounds in Ohio here.  https://youtu.be/H5NN9nNRQKg

Enon mound is one of the larger Adena burial mounds that is still visible in Ohio.

Directions, histories and Photos of Over 100 Sites in Ohio

Burial Mound Located North of the Famous Grave Creek Giant's Tomb

Burial Mound Located North of the Famous Grave Creek Giant's Tomb

This large burial mound is located just a few miles north of the famous Grave Creek mound in Moundsville, (Marshall County) West Virginia.  It is on private property, but easily seen from the road. This is just north of the famous Gtave Creek mound where giants were discovered  www.nephilimgiants.net : The Giant Adena Queen's Burial Mounds at Moundsville, West Virginia

Discover West Virginia's Hidden Ancient History

A Travel Tour of the Adena Hopewell Mounds in Highland, Ross, Highland Adams and Scioto Counties of Ohio.

A Travel Tour of the Adena Hopewell Mounds in Highland, Ross, Highland  Adams and Scioto Counties of Ohio.

    This tour guide map was done by the Ohio Tourism Board.  Starting in Chillicothe, the tour begins at Mound City and then the Adena Mound, but wait, there's no mound there, it was long ago completely leveled by the the Ohio Historical Society, so skip that one.  From there, lets head west to the Hopewell Mound Group, which may be the same as what I marked as the North Fork Works. Heading down 41 and a little back tacking you can see the Seip mound and down 41 to Fort Hill and the Serpent Mound. From the Serpent Mound its a pretty long drive down to the Tremper Mound, but wait, the mound has been excavated and is on private property. You can see a slight rise on a hill about a 100 yards away, that's it!  At Portsmouth only one horseshoe shaped work is left of almost 20 miles of earthwork, still pretty cool see.
   9 sites, with two where there is little or nothing to see.  If you had "Nephilim Chronicles: A Travel Guide to the Ancient Ruins," You would add 10 sites to see to this trip. Some of the mounds are the largest in Ohio. 

This burial mound is located north of Chillicothe; it is the second largest burial mound in Ohio.  Sorry, but its not part of Ohio's official tour. This is worth an extra 10 miles.

See that slight rise on that hill? That's the Tremper mound, not much to see and this is as close as you get. In the time it took to drive this far south, there were at least 5 much bigger sites you could have visited.
In the The Nephilim Chronicles: A Travel Guide to the Ancient Ruins in the Ohio Valley," every site has been photographed with historical details added, giving you more information in deciding and planning your trip.

           See and Explore All of the Mounds In Ohio, Indiana, Kentucky and West Virginia

Ohio Adena Hopewell Burial Mound Map

Ohio Adena, Hopewell Burial Mound and Earthwork Map

This is a partial map of the general location of many of the Adena Hopewell mound and earthworks.
This was originally made for "The Nephilim Chronicles: A Travel Guide to the Ancient Ruins in the Ohio Valley," but I thought it was a little "busy" and I was having trouble finding a spot to put all of the sites.

The Most Comprehensive Guide to the Adena, Hopewell Mounds-222 Sites

Ancient Adena Burial Mound in Laurel, Franklin County, Indiana

Ancient Adena Burial Mound in Laurel, Franklin County, Indiana

Adena burial mound that sits atop this hill and is now capped with a gazebo. The mound is located in Franklin County, Indiana.  Photo from, "The Nephilim Chronicles: A Travel Guide to the Ancient Ruins in the Ohio Valley."

Direction and Photographs of 85 Burial Mounds and Earthworks in Indiana!

Chillicothe, Ohio's Largest Burial Mound

Chillicothe, Ohio's Largest Burial Mounds is Hidden From the Public

Going to Ohio to visit the ancient burial mounds and earthworks? Just know, many of the largest burial mound locations are kept secret by the Ohio Historical Society. These mounds are listed as "address restricted." It is YOU that they are restricting from knowing where they are. Since the publication of "The Nephilim Chronicles: A Travel Guide to the Ancient Ruins in the Ohio Valley," these restrictions have been lifted, with direction to ALL of Ohio's ancient sites provided. For a sneak peek of 32 of the largest burial mounds in Ohio (25 are Address Restricted) follow this link 

One of Ohio's largest burial mounds is located to the north of Chillicothe, Ohio.

    
Ohio Archaeological and Historical Society, Vol. VII, 1900
   The Austin Brown mound is one of the largest in the state. 'It stands thirty—eight feet high having a base of one hundred and sixty—five feet and is located near Brown Chapel in Scioto township (Ross County). It lies upon the second terrace of the Scioto and is made up of a rich, brown clay containing not a pebble or stone. “We went up the side thirty-four feet from the edge and sunk a shaft on the east side. It was ten feet down to the baseline at this point. We then started a large tunnel and worked in under from this point. We soon struck quantities of rotten timbers or logs and a heavy decay line. We found a fine rotary arrowhead. There were many soft spots of black earth. Twenty feet from the mouth of the tunnel we struck a log ten inches in diameter running north and south. “From indications, I think that at the time of building this mound they felled the trees and covered them up without clearing. “We sent several 'side tunnels. When the main tunnel passed the

Directions to Over 100 of Ohio's Burial Mounds and Earthworks

Map and Photos of Ancient Indian Trails in Ohio

Ancient Indian Trails in Ohio

Map shows the paths of the ancient Indian trails in Ohio.  Many of these trails are thousands of years old. It is of interest the trails converge in south central Ohio where the greatest concentration of Adena Hopewell burial mounds and earthworks are located.

Muskingum Indian Trail located in Tuscarawas County, Ohio.  About 8 sections of old Indian trails were investigated for "The Nephilim Chronicles: A Travel Guide to the Ancient Ruins in the Ohio Valley," with only one photographed at South Bend Indiana.

Another section of the Muskingum Indian Trail located near Stockport, Ohio

Colossus Adena Burial Mound in Butler County, Ohio

Colossus Adena Burial Mound in Butler County, Ohio

Photo from "The Nephilim Chronicles: A Travel Guide to the Ancient Ruins in the Ohio Valley." What appears to be two peaks of the mound is the result of the Ohio Historical Societies' archaeological digs. It is never the practice of archaeologists to restore burial mounds after excavating them Get directions to this site and 32 other large burial mounds in Ohio.  Here's a sneak peek from "The Nephilim Chronicles: A Travel Guide to the Ancient Ruins in the Ohio Valley" 

    From the "History of Butler County, Ohio"

The Great Mound of Butler County from rth.

One of Ohio's largest Adena Burial mounds as seen from Google Earth.  

If you travel to the mound in the summer months, this is what you will see.  The state of Ohio puts little or no value on the remnants of one of the worlds most prestigious ancient cultures. The largest remaining stone burial mound in Ohio is only a few miles from this site that is equally neglected.

Archaeological Map of Illinois and Indiana Mound Builders

Archaeological Map of Illinois and Indiana Mound Builders

For Directions to 85 burial mound and earthwork sites in Indiana

                                   Best Travel Guide to the Mound Builders

Native American, Iroquois Mound Builders of Northern Indiana and Michigan

Native American, Iroquois Mound Builders of Northern Indiana and Michigan

Discover Ancient American

Take an unprecedented view of ancient Indiana and Michigans Iroquois Indian mound, burial grounds and earthworks in Northern Indiana and southern Michigan.  Many if these sites have been and are still being desecrated by University archaeologists. Indiana and Michigan Historical Societies refuse to acknowledge these as historic sites.  Instead, they fund  the university archaeologists to desecrate these Native American burial grounds that are American Treasures. Directions to all these Native Ancient American sites are listed in "The Nephilim Chronicles: A Travel Guide to the Ancient Ruins in the Ohio Valley."

         Your Travel Guide to the Native American Burial Grounds in Indiana and Michigan

Ohio Tourism: Off the Map Burial Mound Sites

Ohio Tourism: Off the Map Burial Mound Sites
Bainbridge Mound, Ross County, Ohio

Traveling to Mound City in Chillicothe, or the Seip Mound or Fort Hill?  These are the mounds that you will pass on the road and miss if you don't know where to look. I photographed 32 of the largest burial mounds in Ohio with 25 of them being "Address Restricted." For a sneak peek of these mounds that are featured in "The Nephilim Chronicles: A Travel Guide to the Ancient Ruins in the Ohio Valley." 

Nothing epitomizes the Indian burial mounds and earthworks in the State of Ohio like the Bainbridge mound, located only a few miles to the east of the Seip mound and earthwork.  The large Bainbridge Mound is located just before the S.R. 41

 O

A Photographic Tour of Adena Hopewell Mound Builders in Randolph County, Indiana

A Photographic Tour of The Adena Hopewell Mound Builders In Randolph County, Indiana

Adena burial mound near Lynn, Indiana. A few miles to the north was an additional  large burial mound called Snow Hill from which a small town was named. This mound was completely leveled. For information. https://adenahopewellmoundbuildersohiovalley.blogspot.com/2017/07/snow-hill-indiana-in-randolph-county.html

Map showing the locations of the burial mounds and earthworks in Randolph County, Indiana. The red stick figures represent giant human skeletons found in burial mounds

History of Randolph County, Kingman, 1882.

There are many antiquities in Randolph County mounds, embankments, etc., some of which are described below:

1) One of the best known is to be seen (partly) in the fairgrounds northwest of Winchester. It is an enclosure of forty-three acres in the form of an exact square. The embankment was from seven to ten feet high, with openings east and west eighty feet wide as also having a mound in the center of the area fifteen feet high. The whole enclosure and the embankment also, when found by the first settlers was covered with large forest trees exactly like the adjacent regions. The eastern opening was unprotected, the western one was surrounded outwardly by an embankment shaped, like a horseshoe open toward the gate, joined on the north side to the main embankment, but left open at the south side of the gate for a passage to the outer grounds.

Rectangular earthwork in Winchester, Indiana with the dimensions of 1320 X 1080. The orientation of the gateways is aligned to the summer solstice sunset and the winter solstice sunrise.

 The earthwork is still visible in a few places. This photo shows part of the western gateway.

2) Another embankment exists on the Heaston farm west of Winchester, near the crossing of Sugar Creek, enclosing perhaps an area-not very high.

 This earthwork surrounded a venerated spring, south of the main work,  The site was investigated, but nothing remains.

3) There are mounds in Washington Township. One is near the Hogback Pike on the right of the Winchester and Lynn road. It covers two areas and is forty or fifty feet high.

4) Up Sugar Creek on the Huntsville pike, a burial place was excavated, throughout bones and other things.

5) A remarkable hill or mound, forty or fifty feet high, comprising several acres, round like a flattish haystack, is in the southeast corner of Washington Township.

6) In Painter’s gravel bank in the bluffs of Bear Creek, near Elder Thomas Addington’s (Section 32, 30, 14), were found (in 1879) fifty or sixty skeletons of human frames. Some had been buried separately and some were in a trench three feet deep. Those buried singly were in a sitting posture with the lower limbs extending horizontally. Those in the trench appeared to have been thrown in promiscuously, some of them crosswise. Some of the graves had been eight feet deep, others only three or four. In the trench was surface earth mixed with the gravel, elsewhere the gravel was pure. Whether the gravel diggers have uncovered the whole trench is not known.

Many, perhaps most, of the skeletons were of unusual size. One jaw was so large as so pass readily outside when applied to an ordinary man’s face. One thigh bone was so long that, when put beside the thigh of a man six feet high, the lower part of the bone reached four inches below the knee. The teeth in the jaws were perfectly sound, some were much worn but none were decayed. No hair was found, nor any woody nor fibrous material, such as cloth, etc. The bones were brittle but the teeth were firm and solid. Elder Thomas Addington saw these things personally, helping to take the gravel from the bank, and the bones from the gravel. He is a sober-minded, intelligent, truthful man. Mr. Painter put the bones in a box, and buried them on his farm.

Mr. Addington said one of the skeletons had high cheekbones and long, thing skull like an Indian, and beside it was a pipe and dog. The others were not so.

7) Skeletons have been found in and taken from a gravel bank near Joseph Mill’s, on the Windsor pike, two miles southeast of Farmland.

8) Two skeletons were found in Jones’s bank near Oliver Branch.

The Windsor burial mound looks pristine from the road, but the back of the mound has been removed by university archaeologist.  The plan on returning to this mound and continue digging, no doubt until it is completely destroyed.

9) East of Windsor and north of the Pike, on Esq. Thompson’s farm, may be seen a large oval mound, covering an acre, and twenty-five or thirty feet high. It is 450 yards round the base and longer than it is wide. When dug into, it shows clay mixed with ashes and coal more or less. A chunk, seeming to have been a sod of grass, was thrown up from the bottom of a hole twenty feet deep, dug from the top vertically downward. A red oak tree, four feet through, was standing (forty years ago) near the top of the mound, but no other trees of much size were on its surface. The ground around the mounds was then covered with large forest trees. There are now many trees growing along the sides of the mound, from six to fifteen inches through. An excavation of considerable size appeared (forty years ago) perhaps twenty rods from the base of the mound, which is thought to be the place whence the earth for its construction was taken. Another smaller mound lies across the river not far away. Esq. Thompson has preserved many fine specimens of arrowheads, hatchets, hammers, pestles, etc., picked up on his farm. The hatchets and hammers have hollows cut around them for handles. The relics are all of stone. Many of them are worked smooth and highly polished.

The Windsor burial mound looks pristine from the road, but the back of the mound has been removed by university archaeologist.  The plan on returning to this mound and continue digging, no doubt until it is completely destroyed.

10) There was found on Section 34, Town 20, Range 12, on Bear Creek, Franklin Township, by George Adding ton, on the farm upon which he resides, a hidden well. He was digging in a low but not boggy place on his farm for stock-water. About three feet down he struck some puncheons lying flat, and upon removing them he found below a hollow ”gum,” and a well, enclosed by the gum, ten or twelve feet deep. He put in an oil barrel to complete the curb, and the well is there now, and he uses it to water his stock.

11) There is a large, whitish, mound-like hill or knoll, round and smooth, with neither trees nor grass, not far from Snow Hill station, north of Lynn, on the Grand Rapids Railroad, each of the railroad and west of the pike. This knoll, covered in the winter with snow, is thought to have given the name of the old town, or hamlet, of Snow Hill.

This mound is destroyed and the namesake of the town of Snow Hill. The significance is that mounds in groups of three were done by both the early Iroquois and Adena mound builders.

12) The graveyard in Jericho (Friends) seems to have been an ancient burial ground, and human bones have at different times been thrown out where none were known to have been buried. The graveyard is a large gravelly knoll, of an acre or more, ten or fifteen feet high, at a distance from any stream of water.

13) The gravel bank, which forms the graveyard at Arba, is an ancient burial ground.

14) Bones have been taken from a gravel bank northwest of Spartansburg.

15) Human bones were found in a gravel hill north of Stockdale’s, east of the pike, and southeast of Bartonia.

16) In a gravel bank on the west side of White River, west of Mt. Zion Church, near Nathan Butt’s, were found several skeletons; and, with nearly every one, coals of fire seem to have been thrown in. They were three or four feet below the surface, lying horizontally, and mostly large. The teeth were solid, though some were worn. [Rev. N.T. Butts, who lives near and helped take them out, is our informant.]

17) There is a considerable knoll, or mound, in Washington Township, west of the railroad and of the wagon road that passes along west of the railroad and parallel thereto: It is southwest of Snow Hill station, located in Cal. Johnson’s field, and in sight of the large clayey knoll.

18) There are some circular embankments of the Bales farm (now owned by Mr. Branson), not far from Cedar (Friends) Meeting House, in Stony Creek Township, a little north of Cabin Creek. In one place there are two circular embankments together. The circles cut each other. A mound is in the center of each circle, higher than the embankment. The earth for both the wall and the mound would seem to have been taken from the space between the two. The embankments are now about three feet higher than the level of the ground outside. The central mounds are perhaps ten feet across and four feet high. The ground enclosed in both is about three acres, two acres in the large and one acre in the smaller. There is an opening like a wagon-way on the East Side of each enclosure.

19) Another on the same farm (Bale's) and on the other side of Cabin Creek is a semi-circle opening to the west. The opening is nearly closed by a curved bank, except a space about twelve feet wide at each end of the bank. There are depressions leading through the passageways. In the center is a mound fifteen feet across, and the enclosure is about two feet high (1880), containing two acres. South and near by, is another mound fifteen feet across and four feet high.

The fields have been tilled thirty or forty years (or even longer.) At first the forest covered them and their height was much greater than at present.

20) Near Buena Vista a stone wall was found near the surface at the base of a hill, extending downward into the earth. How deep it went or how long the wall was, our informant does not know. The part he saw was a rod or so long. It was between Buena Vista and Unionsport, on the south side of the road, on land owned by Elliott, about one-half mile south of the road.

21) Temple Smith (now living near Stone Station) picked up a stone (triangular, six inches to a side) an inch thick, scooped hollowing in the middle on both sides, very smooth, and highly polished, of a dark, yellowish cast.

22) On Mulligans’s farm east of Stone Station, Mr. Lewis found (ten or twelve years ago), a dark, streaked stone, very smooth, long and round, two inches through, with a smooth, round hole drilled nearly through lengthwise; one end had been broken off; the other was smooth and flat.

23) Zimri Moffat, east of Winchester, found a tombstone with part broken off, 144 years old. [When it was found was not told].

24) when digging a well near Solomon Wright’s, not far from the mouth of Cabin Creek, the diggers found, at the depth of twenty-five feet, walnut log six inches thick. They cut the log out as long as the width of the well, and brought it to the top. This was thirty years ago. The log lay at least ten feet blow the channel or bed of Cabin Creek near by.

Geological Survey of Indiana, Randolph, 1882

       Small boulders were observed on the summit and sides. No excavations have been made in either of these mounds. Both were evidently built of clay taken from the immediate vicinity. They may have served as points of outlook, as they are only about one mile apart. In Section 4, one mile southwest of the last one described, is a very large mound which is considered artificial by the people in that vicinity, but its relation to some small streams suggested that it was more likely one of natures carving. On the map is marked its location as future investigations may possibly show that it really belongs with the works of the Mound Builders.

In Section 10, Range 13 east, 2 north, Franklin Township was a circular enclosure, with an area of about one and half acres. The walls were four feet high. Although when first noticed by the earlier settlers it was in a good state of preservation, it has been destroyed, and no trace of it remains.

North of the Mississinewa River, between Ridgeview and Fairview, are a number of tumuli, which contain ashes and charcoal. The Indians may have built these, as this used to be their camping ground.

NOTE: No modern Indians have been known to cremate their dead in mounds.

Many of the gravel banks have served for the Indians as burial places, as skeletons are frequently met with while digging gravel for pikes. Some of the skeletons were of large size, and deposited with them were articles of ornament, as paint sells, etc. The position of some indicates that they had been buried in a sitting posture.

Geological Survey of Indiana, Randolph County, 1882

    Section 23, Range 14 East, Washington Township, is a large, circular mound, which, although now somewhat reduced in size, could not have formerly been less than fifteen feet high and one hundred feet in diameter. In Section 33 same township, is another, which measured three hundred feet in circumference and fifteen feet high; this was better preserved than the former. (Note Cal Johnson mound)

Indiana History Bulletin Vol. VII, Oct. 1929

Mentions large mounds on the Baxter property in the southeast quarter of Section 27, Washington Township.

Just south of the large mound in Section 33, Washington Township, another large mound was found and was barely visible at the time of the search in 1929. Presently no evidence exists.

Proceeding of the Indiana Academy of Science, 1894.

“Concerning a Burial Mound Recently Opened in Randolph County” by Joseph Moore

Southern Randolph and the adjacent portion of Wayne, is in the main a level tract, the land during ordinary seasons being rather wet.

Besides a number of well-defined made mounds in the neighborhood of Lynn Station on the G.R. & I. R.R. there are frequent examples of natural mounds. These are usually much larger than the artificial mounds. They may be compared to drift islands surrounded by flat areas of dark colored soil. Some of these mounds of modified drift have been utilized by ancient peoples as burial grounds. The one of which I speak is a fraction over a mile west of Lynn Station. It is about 150 years in circumference and eighteen to twenty feet high, and is so symmetrical as to have the appearance of a made mound; but in a wide cutting made through it by the gravel haulers the structure clearly shows an aqueous deposit from top to bottom. In this mound the workmen say they have opened “more than a hundred graves.” They “counted till they reached seventy.” Quite a number of the skulls were sufficiently preserved to bear handling, even after being for a short time exposed to the air. Some of them on being treated with a solution of glue have rather a fresh, recent look. Very many of the bones were broken to crumbs by visitors in sport. Some of the skeletons were in a sitting posture with the chin crowded upon the knees.

This is the second burial mound near Lynn Indiana.  It is heavily overgrown with brush that makes its outlines difficult to discern.

      The depth of the graves was from a yard or less to twelve feet and more. The skeletons were of both sexes and various ages, some quite young. It was alleged that a horse’s bones were found, but I was unable to find the least scrap. They also tell of a dog’s skull with the teeth all perfect. This is possibly so, but it would seem more likely that it was the head of a wolf, which is quite similar. Quite a number of implements were found some of which are here on the table. One skeleton was found with a large dart in each hand.

They assert that a scapula was found pierced by a flint dart and that the dart was lodged in said bone, but that the bone immediately crumbled from about it. There were beads of bone, shell and copper (but few of the latter) copper rings, tube pipes and various other things, the uses of which are not very well known.

You will see in the skulls presented for your examination that there is quite diversity. Two of them are of the brachycephalic or short-head type, one barely so, the other extremely so. The one has the lateral diameter in the proportion to the fore and aft, as 86 to 100, the other 92 to 100. The others are all orthocephalic, though one of them approaches to the longhead type.

You will note not only the extent to which the teeth are worn, but also the peculiar manner of the wearing. It will also be seen that decayed teeth, caries of the bone and also signs of gumboils and abscesses are not confined entirely to civilized races.

The upper wisdom teeth in one of the skulls show, each, examples of enamel tubercles on the fangs, a rather rate phenomenon, as I understand.

You will note also in one of them an extraordinary double suture at upper border of occiput.

A question of interest: Did such diverse skulls belong to the same tribe, or did different tribes at different times bury in the same grounds?

History of Randolph County, Indiana,1882

A Mr. Osborn, who was at Amos Smith’s one-half mile south of Powers station, Jay County, In., told us as follows [1880]:

Most of the mounds in Randolph County are in the southern part on the White River or tributaries to it  Along the Mississenawa in the north are a few earthworks.

History of Randolph County. 1882

In Section 10, range 13 east, 2 north, Franklin Township, was a circular enclosure, with an area of about one and half acres. The walls were four feet high. Although when first noticed by the earlier settlers, it was in a good state of preservation, it has since been destroyed, and no trace of it remains. North of the Mississinewa River, between Ridgeville and Fairview, are a number of small tumuli, which contain ashes and charcoal. These may have been built by the Indians, as this used to be their camping ground.

85 Adena Hopewell Burial Mound And Earthwork Sites in Indiana