The Fortner Mounds are a pair of Native American mounds in the central part of the

U.S. state In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its sover ...

Ohio Ohio () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Of the fifty U.S. states, it is the 34th-largest by area, and with a population of nearly 11.8 million, is the seventh-most populous and tenth-most densely populated. The sta ...

. Located northeast of the city of Pickerington in

Fairfield County Fairfield County is the name of three counties in the United States: * Fairfield County, Connecticut * Fairfield County, Ohio * Fairfield County, South Carolina Fairfield County is a county located in the U.S. state of South Carolina. As of t ...

, they are two of several mounds in the Pickerington vicinity, but the only pair of mounds in the area. As such, they are of special interest to

archaeologists Archaeology or archeology is the scientific study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture. The archaeological record consists of artifacts, architecture, biofacts or ecofacts, sites, and cultural landscap ...

: some of the mound-building peoples of prehistoric North America lived in groups of two or three houses, which were often covered with piles of earth when the families would move to other places. Therefore, it is likely that these mounds cover groups of

posthole In archaeology a posthole or post-hole is a cut feature used to hold a surface timber or stone. They are usually much deeper than they are wide; however, truncation may not make this apparent. Although the remains of the timber may survive, most p ...

s, and buried bodies may also be located within them. From their shape, it is apparent that the mounds were constructed by people of the

Adena culture The Adena culture was a Pre-Columbian Native American culture that existed from 500 BCE to 100 CE, in a time known as the Early Woodland period. The Adena culture refers to what were probably a number of related Native American societies sharing ...

, who lived in central Ohio between approximately 500 BC and AD 400.Owen, Lorrie K., ed. ''Dictionary of Ohio Historic Places''. Vol. 1.

St. Clair Shores St. Clair Shores is a suburban city bordering Lake St. Clair in Macomb County of the U.S. state of Michigan. It forms a part of the Metro Detroit area, and is located about northeast of downtown Detroit. Its population was 59,715 at the 2010 ce ...

: Somerset, 1999, 396. Because the Fortner Mounds are likely to cover both the remains of houses and of these houses' inhabitants, they compose a significant

archaeological site An archaeological site is a place (or group of physical sites) in which evidence of past activity is preserved (either prehistoric or historic or contemporary), and which has been, or may be, investigated using the discipline of archaeology an ...

. In recognition of their archaeological value, the two mounds were listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...

in mid-1974. They are one of five Fairfield County mound sites to be included on the Register, along with the Theodore B. Schaer Mound near Canal Winchester, the Tarlton Cross Mound near Tarlton, the Coon Hunters Mound near Carroll, and the

Old Maid's Orchard Mound The Old Maid's Orchard Mound is a Native American mound in the central portion of the U.S. state of Ohio. Located near the village of Lithopolis in Fairfield County, the mound lies within the boundaries of Chestnut Ridge Metro Park, in norther ...

near

Lithopolis Lithopolis is a village in Fairfield and Franklin counties in the U.S. state of Ohio. The population was 2,134 at the 2020 census. History Lithopolis was originally called Centerville, and under the latter name was laid out in 1815. The city ...

References

{{National Register of Historic Places Adena culture Archaeological sites in Ohio National Register of Historic Places in Fairfield County, Ohio Archaeological sites on the National Register of Historic Places in Ohio Mounds in Ohio