The Great Serpent Mound
The Ancients
History Hit
4.7 • 4.5K Ratings
🗓️ 22 January 2023
⏱️ 41 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Located in the US State of Ohio, the Great Serpent Mound is an iconic monument of Ancient America. Nearly 1,400 feet long, and 3 feet high - it's hard to miss. But what do we actually know about this prehistoric colossus, and why was it constructed?
In this episode, Tristan is joined by Dr Brad Lepper, Curator of Archaeology at the Ohio History Connection. A leading expert on ancient earthworks, Brad reveals what the archaeology tells us about the Great Serpent Mound. Looking at the site's history and uses - what can we learn about prehistoric America and the people who lived there?
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | It's the entrance on History Hit. I'm Tristan Hughes your host and in today's |
| 0:14.0 | podcast where we're going back to the Americas we're going to North America. We're going to the prehistoric USA. |
| 0:21.3 | We are talking all about one of the most famous well-known prehistoric sites in North America. |
| 0:30.1 | It's called the Great Serpent Mountain. It's this monumental effigy shaped like a snake |
| 0:37.6 | in the region, in the state of Ohio. Now recently it is very fair to say that the Great Serpent |
| 0:44.7 | Mountain has come under some scrutiny. There have been some controversial theories and opinions |
| 0:50.5 | put forwards as to what the serpent mound was when it dates to how it was used by the prehistoric |
| 0:58.4 | peoples that created it and so on and so forth. You might know while I'm hinting at there, but I'm |
| 1:03.9 | not going to say any more about it. We wanted to address this. We wanted to talk all about the prehistoric |
| 1:10.3 | monument that is the Great Serpent Mountain. We wanted to interview an archaeologist, a leading expert |
| 1:16.5 | on this site to find out what the latest research, what the latest information is about the Great |
| 1:23.8 | Serpent Mound, what it is, how it was used, the great debate around its state when was Serpent |
| 1:30.1 | Mound constructed. Well to explain all, I was delighted to interview a few weeks back, Dr. Brad |
| 1:36.3 | Leber. Brad, he is the creator of archaeology and the manager of archaeology and natural history |
| 1:42.7 | at the Ohio History Connection. He is an absolute fountain of knowledge when it comes to all things |
| 1:50.1 | prehistoric Ohio. Ohio is rich in wonderful, in amazing prehistoric monuments I've never been by |
| 1:58.3 | must visit in the future because I've had so many things I've seen so many incredible images |
| 2:03.6 | online, not least the Great Serpent Mound. We kick off our chat talking all about the Great |
| 2:08.7 | Serpent Mound, but we also talk about some other prehistoric sites in Ohio too as part of the chat, |
| 2:16.8 | as the enigmatic sister effigy mound that is the alligator mound. Yes, you heard me right, |
| 2:24.1 | there's a Serpent Mound and there's an alligator mound too. Pretty cool, right? So without further |
| 2:30.0 | ado to talk all about the Great Serpent Mound, but also other sites as well, such as the alligator mound, |
... |
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