North Fork of Paint Creek Henge Group in Ross County, Ohio

North Fork of Paint Creek Henge Group in Ross County, Ohio

Two large circular Adena earthworks called, Henges have been discovered near the mouth of the North Fork of Paint Creek.  The earthworks could date as early as 500 B.C.  They are located just to the north of the North Fork Earthworks that have recently been purchased.

Two large circular Adena earthworks called, Henges have been discovered near the mouth of the North Fork of Paint Creek.  The earthworks could date as early as 500 B.C.  They are marked on this map as "North Fork Henge."  The Henge group south of these is called the Junction Group Earthworks and have recently been purchased.

Adena Hopewell Earthwork Complex called the Junction Group included two henges that were 660 feet in circumference.

1930s aerial photo shows the two 660 foot henges of the Junction Group.

The North Fork Henge located to the North of the Junction Group is clearly visible in this aerial photo from 1993. 

Serpentine Stone Enclosure at Spruce Hill in Ross County, Ohio

Serpentine Stone Enclosure at Spruce Hill in Ross County, Ohio

Serpentine stone work is located on the lowland at the bottom of the hill where Spruce Hill is located. Numerous henge type earthworks are located around Chillicothe that were also 250 feet in diameter. The length of 250 was used by the later Adena Hopewell to represent the Sun deity.

There were several of these clusters of earthworks around Chillicothe, Ohio that were 250 in circumference.  

     A unique work is situated in the little valley of "Black run," a small tributary of Paint creek, and is distant about fifteen miles from Chillicothe. It is indicated by the letter E.  The walls are composed of stones; but if ever regularly laid up, they are now thrown down, though not greatly scattered. The outlines are clearly defined, and can be exactly traced. The body of the work is elliptical in shape, its conjugate diameter being one hundred and seventy feet, its transverse two hundred and fifty feet. There is a single opening or gateway, fifty feet wide, on the south, where the walls curve outwards and lap back upon themselves for the space of sixty feet. The most remarkable feature of this singular work consists of five walls, starting within ten feet of the unbroken line of the elliptical enclosure, and extending thence northward, slightly converging, for the distance of one hundred feet. The lines of the outer walls, if prolonged, would intersect each other at the distance of two hundred and fifty feet. These walls are twenty feet broad at the ends nearest the enclosure, and ten feet apart. They diminish gradually, as they recede, to ten feet at their outer extremities. The western wall is nearly obliterated; the stones for the construction of all the "cabin" hearths and chimneys in the neighborhood having been taken from this spot. The western portion of the wall of the ellipse has also suffered from the same cause. The amount of stone embraced in the outer walls is considerable, probably sufficient to construct walls of equal length, six feet broad and eight feet high. They now exhibit but slight evidence of ever having been regularly laid up, and more resemble mounds of stones rudely thrown together. The stones have been removed from a section of the central wall, to the base; but we have been unable to ascertain that the operation disclosed relics of any kind. The wall of the body of the work appears considerably lighter than those last mentioned, and it is now quite impossible to determine whether it was ever regularly constructed. The stones cover a space fifteen or twenty feet broad, and are irregularly heaped together to the height of perhaps three feet. The work is overgrown with briers, bushes, and trees; which, when in leaf, completely hide its features from view, and render a satisfactory examination impossible. In the autumn or spring, the entire outline of the work is distinctly visible.

The purposes of this strange work are entirely inexplicable: its small size precludes the idea of a defensive origin. It is the only structure of the kind which has yet been discovered in the valleys, and it is totally unlike those found on the hills. The great "Stone Fort" on Paint creek is but two miles distant, and overlooks this work; both may be regarded as belonging to the same era, and as probably in some way connected with each other.

Maps of Bural of Adena Hopewell Burial Mounds Earthworks at Chillicothe, Ohio, Paint Creek and the Great Miami River

 Maps of Adena Hopewell Earthworks at Chillicothe, Ohio, Paint Creek and the Great Miami River

Earthworks found around Chillicothe, Ohio.  None of the earthworks were preserved, with the few that did survive until the 20th century being destroyed by the Ohio Historical Society.  Map from Ancient Monuments of the Mississippi Valley, 1848.

Chillicothe, Ohio (Ross County) Mounds and Earthworks Map
      Exhibiting a section of twelve miles of the Scioto valley, with its ancient monuments, will serve to give some general conception of the number of these remains. The enclosures are here indicated by dark lines, the mounds by simple dots. Within the section represented, it will be observed that there are not less than ten groups of large works, accompanied by a great number of mounds, of various sizes. Within the enclosure designated by the letter E are embraced twenty-four mounds. The enclosures D, H, I, K, have each about two and a half miles of embankment; and Hand K enclose but little less than one hundred acres each. It is proper to observe, to prevent misconception, that there are few sections of country of equal extent which embrace so large a number of ancient works. The fertile valley of the Scioto river was a favorite resort of the ancient people, and was one of the seats of their densest population. 

Earthworks located west of Chilliocthe, Ohio along Pant Creek.  Spuce Hill and the Seip mound and earthwork can still be explored.

Valley of Paint Creek Earthworks Map

    Enlarged planPLATE III, No. 1, exhibits a section of six miles of the Valley of Paint Creek, a tributary of the Scioto river. The village of Bourneville is ten miles west of Chillicothe. Within this limit are embraced three works of extraordinary size, besides several smaller ones. The works, designated by the letters A and B, have each upwards of two miles of heavy embankment, and contain not far from one hundred acres. The stone work C has an area of one hundred and forty acres, enclosed within a wall upwards of two and a fourth miles longs 

The Great Miami Valley Earthwork Map

PLATE III, No. 2, presents a section of six miles of the Great Miami valley, included principally within the limits of Butler county, Ohio. Not less than seven enclosures, of considerable size, occur within these bounds. The work indicated by the letter G contains ninety-five acres. 

Not far from one hundred enclosures of various sizes, and five hundred mounds, are found in Ross county, Ohio. The number of tumuli in the State may be safely estimated at ten thousand, and the number of enclosures at one thousand or fifteen hundred. Many of them are small, but cannot be omitted in an enumeration. They are scarcely less numerous on the Kenhawas in Virginia, than on the Scioto and Miamis; and are abundant on the White river and Wabash, as also upon the Kentucky, Cumberland, Tennessee, and the numerous other tributaries of the Ohio and Mississippi.

Nor is their magnitude less a matter of remark than their great number. Lines of embankment, varying in height from five to thirty feet, and enclosing areas of from one to fifty acres, are common; while enclosures of one or two hundred acres area are far from infrequent. Occasional works are found enclosing as many as four hundred acres The magnitude of the area enclosed is not, however, always a correct index of the amount of labor expended in the erection of these works. A fortified hill in Highland county, Ohio, has one mile and five-eighths of heavy embankment; yet it encloses an area of only about forty acres. A similar work on the Little Miami river, in Warren county, Ohio, has upwards of four miles of embankment, yet encloses little more than one hundred acres. The group of works at the mouth of the Scioto river has an aggregate of at least twenty miles of embankment; yet the entire amount of land embraced within the walls does not probably much exceed two hundred acres.

The mounds are of all dimensions, from those of but a few feet in height and a few yards in diameter, to those which, like the celebrated structure at the mouth of Grave Creek in Virginia, rise to the height of seventy feet, and measure one thousand feet in circumference at the base. The great mound in the vicinity of Miamisburgh, Montgomery county, Ohio, is sixty-eight feet in perpendicular height, and eight hundred and fifty-two in circumference at the base, containing 311,353 cubic feet.

222 Burial Mound and Earthworks Sites in Ohio, Indiana, Kentucky, West Virginia and Michigan. 
 SEE THE MOUNDS AND EARTHWORKS THAT THE OHIO HISTORICAL SOCIETY DOES NOT WANT YOU TO SEE!