University of Cincinnati May Have Uncovered Link to Certain Mound Builders

The Serpent Mound, built on a hilltop near Locust Grove, Ohio is an amazing site to see...
all 1/4 mile of it. It was created by what scientists refer to as the "Fort Ancient" culture.

For years I have heard that the Iroquois are most likely the people whose ancestors were the ancient Hopewell and Fort Ancient people. Now the University of Cincinnati has found new evidence that it probably was not an Iroquoian but an Algonquin people that built at least one of the well known and continuously occupied hilltop Native American sites in North America.

Science Daily reports, "Ohio's Shawnee Lookout Park, with a major new mound being located and a rare kiln used to fire pottery excavated in recent weeks ... evidence was also found to bolster the theory that Shawnee Lookout was the largest continuously occupied hilltop settlement established by any Native American group. The dating of recent evidence found argues for cultural continuity at the site, meaning the Hopewell who lived at Shawnee Lookout up to 2,000 years ago are showing direct links to the Shawnee people who were living on the site less than 300 years ago...It had already been established that the Hopewell and Fort Ancient were at the site in ancient times – and historically they were the society given credit for constructing the earthworks at Shawnee Lookout. It was also obviously known that the Shawnee and others were at the site more recently."

Me standing in one of the ditches at Fort Ancient, not unlike what was found at Spanish Hill by the earliest Europeans to our region.

Click here to watch several personal videos of Hopewell and Fort Ancient mounds built by the these cultures that are seemingly being connected with the later Shawnee/Algonquin cultures. Since the mounds continued through NY and the northern edge of Pennsylvania, it will be interesting to see how this story AND OUR PREHISTORY unravels in the future.

Stay Tuned!

References: University of Cincinnati (2009, September 4). Shawnee Lookout May Be Largest Continuously Occupied Hilltop Native American Site In United States. ScienceDaily. Retrieved September 8, 2009, from http://www.sciencedaily.com­ /releases/2009/09/090903110816.htm