One of the most impressive was the huge Seip Mound. This is the largest part left of what was once an incredible complex. Not only did it rival Ft. Ancient in size with over two miles of walls but it also included several huge mounds. Unfortunately the site was prime farmland and the first settlers just plowed over the earthen walls which caused them to erode down to where they are barely visible today. You can see a pretty good section of it still intact close to the small parking lot because it was protected from plowing by being inside the farm yard where the chickens were kept. But the huge Seip mound is still there. Wow is it impressive. 240 feet by 160 feet and thirty feet tall! This mound was excavated in the early 1900"s and then put back together.
The mound covered a wooden structure in which the remains of several people were placed that must have been high up in Hopewell society for inside their crypt were literally thousands of pearls, finely worked copper, sheets of mica cut into shapes, and the famous clay mask you can see in the photo I took of a sign at the site. Some of these things came from thousands of miles away and all over the United States. All this was covered with a fine cloth staked down with deer antlers. I know we picture Indians as wearing only deer skins and living in tiny bands. The Hopewell, Adena, and Ft Ancient cultures here in Ohio were nothing like this. Along with the two photos that I shot I've posted two old photographs of the excavation of the mound and an old map drawn up before the walls were destroyed. The entire Seip Complex was found to contain the remains of at least 120 people! With much of their site destroyed and with so many bodies buried here I can't imagine anywhere that should be more haunted than these river bottoms.
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