The Orators Mound is a Native American mound in the western part of the

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. Although its cultural affiliation is disputed, it is an important

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 ...

Geographic context and early history

In 1908, forty-one different earthworks were known in Greene County.Broadstone, M.A., ed. ''History of Greene County Ohio: Its People, Industries and Institutions''. Vol. 1. Indianapolis: Bowen, 1918, 76. One of these is located atop the cliffs near a large natural spring called the "Yellow Spring", close to the village of Yellow Springs.Dills, R.S.
History of Greene County, Together with Historic Notes on the Northwest, and the State of Ohio
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Dayton Dayton () is the sixth-largest city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Montgomery County. A small part of the city extends into Greene County. The 2020 U.S. census estimate put the city population at 137,644, while Greater Da ...

: Odell and Mayer, 1881. Because of its location near the spring, it was plainly known throughout much of prehistory.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 ...

: Somerset, 1999, 543-544. During the 1840 election campaign, the mound served as an orator's platform for

Daniel Webster Daniel Webster (January 18, 1782 – October 24, 1852) was an American lawyer and statesman who represented New Hampshire and Massachusetts in the U.S. Congress and served as the U.S. Secretary of State under Presidents William Henry Harrison ...

and Henry Clay, who spoke before a great audience on the same summer afternoon. Until it was excavated in 1953, the mound was built of stone and measured in diameter and high, although its size may have grown since white settlement of the region, since locals are known to have added earth to the mound to resist erosion.Case, D. Troy, and Christopher Carr. ''The Scioto Hopewell and Their Neighbors: Bioarchaeological Documentation and Cultural Understanding''. New York:

Springer Springer or springers may refer to: Publishers * Springer Science+Business Media, aka Springer International Publishing, a worldwide publishing group founded in 1842 in Germany formerly known as Springer-Verlag. ** Springer Nature, a multinationa ...

, 2007, 360. Today, the mound is located within the Glen Helen Nature Preserve,Bennish, Steve.
Glen Helen Parlays Grant Funds Into Big Upgrades
, ''

Dayton Daily News The ''Dayton Daily News'' (''DDN'') is a daily newspaper published in Dayton, Ohio, United States. It is owned by Cox Enterprises, Inc., a privately held global conglomerate headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, United States, with approximately ...

'', 2010-11-12. Accessed 2012-12-22. a

National Natural Landmark The National Natural Landmarks (NNL) Program recognizes and encourages the conservation of outstanding examples of the natural history of the United States. It is the only national natural areas program that identifies and recognizes the best ...

.Ohio

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, 2012-06-28. Accessed 2012-12-23.

Excavations

The earliest known excavation of the mound took place in 1953 and 1954, under the supervision of a man known as Frank Van Wort; little of this excavation is known, because Van Wort published no reports of his work nor wrote any surviving unpublished reports. It appeared that he tried to dig through the middle of the mound but missed slightly to the northern side. A more systematic excavation was conducted in 1971 by

Antioch College Antioch College is a private liberal arts college in Yellow Springs, Ohio. Founded in 1850 by the Christian Connection, the college began operating in 1852 as a non-sectarian institution; politician and education reformer Horace Mann was its ...

students under the supervision of archaeologist Wolfgang Marschall; under his work, Van Wort's work was exposed, and approximately one-third of the entire mound was excavated. Their work revealed the presence of a

burial chamber A chamber tomb is a tomb for burial used in many different cultures. In the case of individual burials, the chamber is thought to signify a higher status for the interred than a simple grave. Built from rock or sometimes wood, the chambers could ...

at the heart of the mound. Archaeologists have failed to come to a conclusion on the archaeological culture that built the mound. Van Wort found five skeletons within the mound — two men and three infants — that he interpreted as being from 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 ...

, as well as Adena-style

projectile point In North American archaeological terminology, a projectile point is an object that was hafted to a weapon that was capable of being thrown or projected, such as a javelin, dart, or arrow. They are thus different from weapons presumed to have ...

s. Conversely, Marschall's team recovered detailed information about skeletons,

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 ...

, their relationships with each other, and the general stratigraphy of the mound, and their work concluded that the mound was produced by later Hopewellian peoples. Seven skeletons from this excavation, along with various artifacts and records of the excavation, were placed in the Dayton Museum of Natural History.

Preservation

The mound's location within Glen Helen puts it in the bounds of a

nature reserve A nature reserve (also known as a wildlife refuge, wildlife sanctuary, biosphere reserve or bioreserve, natural or nature preserve, or nature conservation area) is a protected area of importance for flora, fauna, or features of geological or ...

and a National Natural Landmark. It was given further protection in 1974, at which time 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 ...

; it is currently one of six archaeological sites on the Register in Greene County. The mound's continued preservation was threatened in 2008, as maintenance funding and labor was ended when Antioch College closed for lack of funds, but multiple grants obtained in 2010 included money for upgrading the trail by which the mound is accessed.

References

{{National Register of Historic Places Adena culture Archaeological sites on the National Register of Historic Places in Ohio National Register of Historic Places in Greene County, Ohio Ohio Hopewell Protected areas of Greene County, Ohio Mounds in Ohio 1950s archaeological discoveries