The Bone Mound II is a Native American mound in the southwestern part of the

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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 northwest of the

unincorporated community An unincorporated area is a region that is not governed by a local municipal corporation. Widespread unincorporated communities and areas are a distinguishing feature of the United States and Canada. Most other countries of the world either have ...

of Oregonia, the mound sits in an area of light

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.Owen, Lorrie K., ed. ''Dictionary of Ohio Historic Places''. Vol. 2.

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 ...

: Somerset, 1999, 1372. At a height of and a diameter of , it is believed to have been built by people of the

Fort Ancient Fort Ancient is a name for a Native American culture that flourished from Ca. 1000-1750 CE and predominantly inhabited land near the Ohio River valley in the areas of modern-day southern Ohio, northern Kentucky, southeastern Indiana and western ...

culture. Although it has never been excavated, multiple confirmed Fort Ancient sites, including mounds and two cemeteries, are located within of the Bone Mound II. The closest of these sites, a rare cemetery composed of limestone

burial vaults A burial vault (also known as a burial liner, grave vault, and grave liner) is a container, formerly made of wood or brick but more often today made of metal or concrete, that encloses a coffin to help prevent a grave from sinking. Wooden coffin ...

, is only about away. The Fort Ancient people are known to have used burial vaults, pits, and two types of mounds for the burial of their dead. However, most areas with such a high concentration of Fort Ancient sites employ only a single method of burial. Because the area around the Bone Mound II shows evidence of multiple methods of burial, it may have been occupied by multiple

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of the Fort Ancient people; consequently, the region is very valuable archaeologically. On July 15, 1974, the Bone Mound II was 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 ...

because of its potential to be an

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 a ...

. The Bone Stone Graves, the cemetery with limestone vaults, was listed on the Register on the same day.

References

{{National Register of Historic Places Archaeological sites in Ohio Fort Ancient culture Archaeological sites on the National Register of Historic Places in Ohio Geography of Warren County, Ohio National Register of Historic Places in Warren County, Ohio Mounds in Ohio