The Miamisburg Mound in Miamisburg, Ohio is Ohio’s largest conical mound and possibly the largest in the eastern United States. It is 877 feet in circumference and was originally 70 feet high. Though the mound is now somewhat protected in a city park, it seems to be eroding and in danger of being vandalized. Sadly, they have built a staircase up the side of the mound with a viewing platform at the summit. Around the circumference of the mound is a rusty chain-link fence.

I have begun to study these mounds up close in order to do research for my next book. I hope that by visiting these sacred sites and spending some time at each of them, I can get a better understanding of them.

There were once thousands of mounds and other earthworks scattered throughout Ohio, built by the prehistoric Adena and Hopewell people. We know very little about them. Some people call them “burial mounds” but not all of them were used for burials. Some seem to have been used for religious purposes. What kind, we don’t really know. There is a theory that these mounds were somehow formed naturally and it was only later that people came along and found a use for them. I’m not sure if I agree with this theory, but it’s an idea I would like to explore.