The Coon Hunters Mound is a Native American mound 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 near the village of Carroll, it sits on the grounds of the Central Ohio Coonhunters Association. The Coon Hunters Mound is a large structure, measuring high and in diameter at its base. Due to its shape and location, it is believed to have been built 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 inhabited southern and central Ohio from approximately 500 BC to approximately AD 400. Mounds such as Coon Hunters were typically constructed as

burial mounds A tumulus (plural tumuli) is a mound of Soil, earth and Rock (geology), stones raised over a grave or graves. Tumuli are also known as barrows, burial mounds or ''kurgans'', and may be found throughout much of the world. A cairn, which is a ...

atop the graves of leading members of Adena society. For this reason, although the mound has never been excavated, it is believed to contain

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 from a burial structure and a range of

grave goods Grave goods, in archaeology and anthropology, are the items buried along with the body. They are usually personal possessions, supplies to smooth the deceased's journey into the afterlife or offerings to the gods. Grave goods may be classed as a ...

. Due to its potentially information-rich contents, the Coon Hunters Mound is a valuable

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 its archaeological significance, it 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 v ...

in 1974. It is one of five Fairfield County mound sites to be included on the Register, along with 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 ...

, the

Tarlton Cross Mound Cross Mound (also called the Tarlton Cross Mound) is an earthwork located near Tarlton, Ohio in the United States. The culture who built it and the time it was built remains unknown. It is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. C ...

near Tarlton, the Theodore B. Schaer Mound near Canal Winchester, and the

Fortner Mounds The Fortner Mounds are a pair of Native American mounds in the central part of the U.S. state of Ohio. Located northeast of the city of Pickerington in Fairfield County, they are two of several mounds in the Pickerington vicinity, but the on ...

near Pickerington. Also located near Carroll are two other archaeological sites, known as the Ety Enclosure and the Ety Habitation Site; they are associated with the later Hopewellian peoples, who inhabited the region after the Adena.

References

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