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Origin: A Genetic History of the Americas

by Jennifer Raff

by Jennifer Raff

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“The Alligator,” Licking County, Ohio. From Ancient Monuments <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong><br />

Mississippi Valley (1848) by Ephraim Squier and Edwin Davis,<br />

published by <strong>the</strong> Smithsonian Institution.<br />

ALLIGATOR AND SERPENT MOUNDS<br />

“The name historically associated with ‘Alligator’ mound may<br />

contain a clue to <strong>the</strong> identification <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> creature represented<br />

by <strong>the</strong> effigy,” wrote archaeologist Brad Lepper (2), curator <strong>of</strong><br />

archaeology and manager <strong>of</strong> archaeology and natural history at<br />

<strong>the</strong> Ohio <strong>History</strong> Connection in a paper on <strong>the</strong> mound. He and<br />

his co-author, Tod Frolking, interpret <strong>the</strong> mound as representing<br />

Underwater Pan<strong>the</strong>r, one <strong>of</strong> three animal spirits—along with<br />

Thunderbird and <strong>the</strong> Horned Serpent—that are frequently<br />

depicted in <strong>the</strong> pan<strong>the</strong>on <strong>of</strong> Eastern Woodland tribes.<br />

They note that if European settlers had asked Native<br />

Americans what <strong>the</strong> mound was supposed to depict, <strong>the</strong><br />

description <strong>of</strong> a dangerous underwater creature with big teeth<br />

and a long tail might well have led <strong>the</strong>m to believe that it was an<br />

alligator.<br />

Underwater Pan<strong>the</strong>r is associated with rivers and lakes and<br />

<strong>the</strong> underworld, and begins appearing in eastern North<br />

American art around 1,040 years ago. The mound’s

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