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Mound in a Cul-De-Sac - Enon, OH

Pardon me while I jump a bit in time and place 😀. I visited this Adena earthen mound in April of 2021 in a suburban neighborhood in Ohio, not far from Dayton. This sort of milieu is not an uncommon location for prehistoric indian earthworks, as post-contact Euro-American settlements grew and eventually took over. Most of these mounds succumbed to the plow; some survived. 

Adena in a Nutshell

Adena refers to a mound-building culture from the Early Woodland period and it spanned ~ 800 BCE to early AD. Primarily centered in OH and immediately surrounding states (WV, KY, etc.). The main purpose of Adena mounds was funereal and ceremonial - burial places for the honored dead. Additional earth was added after each burial or ritual, resulting in some quite tall mounds. This one is listed at anywhere from 28-40 ft high, depending on who you believe. It was never excavated to my knowledge, but many contain human remains and grave goods. 

That's all I'm going to say about Adena here, because there are ample information sources elsewhere that cover the cultural tradition in vastly more detail. Soooo...

On to Some Photos

Enon Mound is on an island in a neighborhood cul-de-sac. The road loops around it.


The town maintains the site and the interpretation. 



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