At the Pickerington-Violet Township Museum on Sunday, representatives from Snake Den Mounds will provide a presentation on their unique archeological site and the Hopewell Native Americans who constructed it.

September 4, 2024
By Eve Copeland

On September 8 from 2 pm to 4 pm, the Pickerington-Violet Township Historical Society will host an enlightening presentation by the Snake Den Mounds Preservation Society. The event, to be held at the Museum in Olde Pickerington Village (15 East Columbus Street), will include images and artifacts from the ancient ceremonial site located in nearby Pickaway County.

Snake Den is a Hopewell ceremonial site.  It is the highest point in Pickaway County and the highest point between the Newark Earthworks and the Chillicothe Earthworks – both Hopewell, some 70 miles apart. In 2023, the collective earthworks of the Hopewell Culture were named as a World Heritage Site.  There are about 1200 World Heritage Sites and 26 in the United States.

These mounds, which date back thousands of years, are believed to have been used for ceremonial purposes by indigenous peoples. The presentation will include a fascinating show-and-tell segment, featuring artifacts recovered from the site.

Jim Barr, a leading member of the Snake Den Mounds Preservation Society, and archeologist Al Tonetti will discuss their experiences at the earthworks.

The Snake Den Mounds are not only an archaeological treasure but also a natural wonder, once home to a large population of hibernating snakes. Barr emphasized the ongoing efforts to preserve this unique site, highlighting the challenges faced by preservationists in protecting it from modern encroachments.

“Al will share magnetometry information and I will share the history of Snake Den as we have discovered since 2007,” said preservationist James Barr. “I will use a PowerPoint, Al will use his maps developed by use of the magnetometer. 

We will then show a short video narrated by Dick McClish, geologist, telling of the impact of the glacier and the relationship to the location of Snake Den on the edge of the terminal moraine.”

Snake Den Mounds Preservation Society is a 501C-3 formed to preserve the site and to share educational information. 

The initial interest began in 2007 with another archaeologist, Jarrod Burks asking for permission to visit the site. The interest spread and brought in professionals from many other areas: geologist, historian, ecology, a herpetologist, and an agronomist.”

The Society’s mission is to share what it learns about the Hopewell culture. 

“This site continues to present more and more information the more we investigate,” Barr said. “It also presents more questions, anomalies, and conundrums.”

The Society gives tours of the mounds to adult groups as well as school children on field trips. 

“We usually have about 10-15 group activities each year with the months of May and September being the most active mainly because of the weather,” Barr said. “We have on annual fall hike with about 100 people who meet at our central barn and then hike up to the mounds.”

The event at the Pickerington Historical Museum is part of the Ohio Open Doors initiative, which aims to promote awareness and appreciation of Ohio’s rich historical heritage. Attendees will have the opportunity to ask questions and engage in discussions.

The Pickerington-Violet Township Historical Society continues to play a vital role in preserving and sharing the history of the local area. Events like this one underscore the importance of community involvement in historical preservation efforts. Be sure to visit the Museum next month for its exhibit “Elixirs, Poisons & Cures” on October 6 from 2 pm to 4 pm.