The Keiter Mound (designated 33-Cn-15) is a Native American mound in the southwestern 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 sove ...

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 north of the city of Wilmington, it sits on a wooded hill above the stream bottom of a small secondary creek, the Anderson Fork. About tall at its highest point, the mound measures from north to south and from east to west. Woods with Keiter Mound

Due to its location, the Keiter Mound is believed to be a work of Hopewellian peoples. Unlike many Hopewell sites, such as the

Newark Earthworks The Newark Earthworks in Newark and Heath, Ohio, consist of three sections of preserved earthworks: the Great Circle Earthworks, the Octagon Earthworks, and the Wright Earthworks. This complex, built by the Hopewell culture between 100 BCE and ...

or Mound City, the Keiter Mound is isolated: no other mounds and no large geometric earthworks are located nearby. As such, it is likely to have been created by small groups of transient hunters who camped in the valley below. This identification is based on the mound's location and comparison with similar mounds: as the mound has never been substantially excavated, it likely holds the same

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 ...

as it did when it was constructed thousands of years ago.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, 151. The top is flat and slightly scarred, possibly from an early excavation, but for all practical purposes the mound is in pristine condition. For this reason, it is 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 a ...

: it is an unusually well preserved example of isolate Hopewell construction and might be able to yield important information about the Hopewell way of life. In recognition of its archaeological significance, the Keiter Mound 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 ...

in 1975.

References

{{National Register of Historic Places Ohio Hopewell Archaeological sites on the National Register of Historic Places in Ohio National Register of Historic Places in Clinton County, Ohio Mounds in Ohio