Ohio History Journal

  • 1
  •  
  • 2
  •  
  • 3
  •  
  • 4
  •  
  • 5
  •  
  • 6
  •  
  • 7
  •  
  • 8
  •  
  • 9
  •  
  • 10
  •  
  • 11
  •  
  • 12
  •  
  • 13
  •  
  • 14
  •  
  • 15
  •  

EXPLORATION OF THE GINTHER MOUND

EXPLORATION OF THE GINTHER MOUND

 

 

H. C. SHETRONE, CURATOR OF ARCHAEOLOGY.

 

The type of prehistoric tumuli known variously as

Temple mounds, Platform mounds, Truncated mounds

and Flat-topped mounds has furnished substance for

much speculation in the archaeological literature of

Ohio.   The early attitude of writers on the subject

may be summarized in the words of Squier and Davis,

whose opinion is expressed as follows:

"So far as ascertained, they cover no remains, and seem

obviously designed as the sites of temples or of other structures

which have passed away, or as 'high places' for the performance

of certain ceremonies."

Fowke, however, writing at a much later date, is

not content with this convenient disposition of the mat-

ter, and states that

"As none of them have been explored except in a very in-

adequate and perfunctory manner, the assertion that 'they cover

no remains' is not warranted by our present knowledge."

Only a few examples of the type of mound under

consideration occur in Ohio, the most notable being

those in connection with the great enclosures at Mari-

etta, with minor ones at Newark and Portsmouth; a

low but extensive one within the Cedar Bank works,

north of Chillicothe; and, in close proximity to the last-

named, the rather striking Ginther Mound--the sub-

ject of this report.

(154)