Скачать или смотреть Serpent Mound on Summer Solstice in Ohio

Using Google Earth to explore Serpent Mound in southern Ohio, you see a massive earthen effigy, 1,348 feet long, coiled along a narrow ridge high above Ohio Brush Creek, its curves tracing the spine of an ancient meteorite impact structure five miles wide.

The serpent’s tail spirals tightly, its body winding across the plateau before ending in a head that faces an oval mound, aligned with the summer solstice sunset.

From above, the sinuous form seems to merge with the land itself, following the ridge’s natural contours and steep drops into wooded valleys below.

Built around 1070 CE during the Late Prehistoric Fort Ancient period—though some argue for earlier Adena origins—it likely served ceremonial and astronomical purposes, marking celestial events like solstices and lunar standstills.

The nearby conical mounds contain burials, but the effigy itself holds no remains, suggesting symbolic rather than funerary intent.

First mapped in 1848 by Squier and Davis and later preserved through Harvard archaeologist Frederic Ward Putnam’s efforts, Serpent Mound has drawn both scientific study and spiritual interpretation. Its blend of skywatching alignments, prehistoric engineering, and geological drama continues to spark debate over its true purpose.

Now a National Historic Landmark, it attracts visitors each solstice, when the setting sun still slips neatly into the serpent’s “jaws,” linking past and present in one timeless moment.