Adena Sun Temple at New Castle, Indiana - Winter Solstice Alignment

Adena Sun Temple at New Castle, Indiana - Winter Solstice Alignment

Sun Temple (Henge) located in Henry County, Indiana has a gateway aligned to the winter solstice sunrise.

This small isolated henge was constructed so that the gateway would align to the Winter Solstice sunrise.  This sun temple is located about 5 miles south of the larger Sun Temple complex, north of New Castle. A large hole is evident in the center of the enclosure that was the result of Ball State archaeologists.

Historic Henry County, 1820-1849, Vol. I, by Herbert L. Heller

Another Adena enclosure still remains in the city of New Castle. This is found at the west edge of Baker Park on S. Main St., immediately east of the Chrysler High School. Although its original use is problematical it is generally considered this type of enclosure was of ceremonial usage. It is an excellent example of the work of the Adena Culture although not as large as similar mounds found in the Mounds State Park in Anderson. New Castle and Henry County residents will do well to see that these works of the earliest residents are preserved for future generations.

Winter Solstice Sunset Alignment at Marietta Sacred Via

Winter Solstice Sunset Alignment at Marietta Sacred Via

The graded way or sacred via extended from the enclosure to the second terrace of the river. The sacred via was constructed to align to the Winter Solstice sunset.

At Marietta the graded ways leads from the second terrace up to the third terrace, and connects the enclosure and the three temple platforms with the river, thus giving the impression that they were used for religious purposes.

Granville, Licking County, Ohio's Alligator Mound Alignments and Numerology

Granville, Licking County, Ohio's Alligator Mound Alignments and Numerology

Early map of the Alligator mound. It may have been some other kind of reptile. It shares an alignment with the large Newark Circle or henge, as they are both aligned to the May 1st sunrise.May 1st was the emergence of frogs and other reptiles and a sign that life was returning to the landscape.

The traveler between Newark and Granville will observe many of these mounds, a few yet pretty well preserved, even on the extensive and rich bottoms of the Raccoon ; but the better preserved works, and those probably the most interesting, are located upon the hills that shut in the valley. Captain M. M. Munson, who occupies a beautiful farm in the midst of these mounds, and who has made them something of a study, is confident that around the great alligator mound, located not far from his house, is a complete system of mounds and earthworks that point to it as a common center. However this may be, there is certainly a large circle of works in this vicinity, extending several miles in every direction, and seemingly connected with each other and with the "Old Fort" near Newark and its contiguous works. The Alligator mound is situated upon the summit of a hill nearly two hundred feet high, about six miles west of Newark; near Granville. The shape and form of this reptilian monster are distinctly presented, so that all admit, at the first; glance, that it was undoubtedly intended to represent the alligator or American crocodile. His enitire length is two hundred feet and ten feet. The greatest  breadth of his body is twenty feet, and his length  between the fore legs and hind legs is fifty feet.

The length of the Alligator of 210 feet is a good clue that this work had a solar reference. Sun temples or henges at Mounds State Park and Cambridge City, Indiana, Athens Ohio, Chillicothe, Ohio were all 210 feet in diameter or 660 feet in circumference.

Two henges from the Junction Group near Chillicothe, Ohio with a diameter of 210 feet.

The limbs are each twenty-five feet long. The head, fore shoulders and back have an elevation varying from three to six feet, while the remainder of the body averages considerably less. The head, limbs and tail gradually taper off to their termination. The scholarly author of "Historic Man" visited this effigy in 1876, just before the issue of the third edition of his work, and he expresses the belief that it "symbolizes some object of special awe and veneration, thus reared on one of the chief 'high places' of the nation, with its accompanying altar, upon which these ancient people could witness the celebration of the rites of their worship, its site having been obviously selected as the most prominent feature in a populous district abounding in military, civic and religious structures." It is probable this effigy was an object of worship, as the Mound Builders were certainly a superstitious and idolatrous race. 

The stone cairn that was next to the effigy is very similar to that found at the Tarleton Cross.

The Tarleton Cross with an adjoining stone mound.  In the center of the cross is a deep basin where it is believed that fires were made during solar events.

     It probably belongs to the same class of mounds as the "Eagle mound" in the "old fort." The hill upon which the Alligator mound is situated, is a "spur" jutting into the level bottom, and not far from the foot of the hill, and to the east of it perhaps one fourth of a mile, on the level bottom, is the curiously shaped mound called the "Crescent." It is an "immense pile of dirt," which seems to lie upon top of the ground as if it had been transported from a distance, thrown down there and fashioned into the shape of a half-moon or crescent. It is composed largely of gravel and in its composition differs largely from the dark, loamy earth around it. This mysterious crescent-shaped pile has been plowed over for fifty years or more, and of course is much reduced in height, but is yet probably six or seven feet high. It is large and thick in the center, and tapers in either direction to a point. It is located on lot number eight of the Granville purchase, now owned by D. M. Knapp.