It's officially called the Alligator Effigy Mound, but it's safe to say that it's not actually representing an alligator. Unfortunately, what it is has long been lost, and here's why.
The Alligator Effigy Mound, Ohio History Central explains, is located in Granville, Ohio, not far from the remnants of a settlement built by the Hopewell. For a long time, the two were connected. Touring Ohio says it's only fairly recently that the Alligator Mound has been dated to around the year 1300, which puts its creation at the time of another group of Native people called the Fort Ancient Culture, who were descendants of the Hopewell.
And here's where things get tricky. By the time European settlers moved into the area, the original builders were long gone — and they took their secrets with them. The Native inhabitants those settlers asked didn't know what it was, either, and when they offered their thoughts, something got lost in translation. They suggested it was a dangerous underwater creature, and settlers immediately thought, "alligator." But there's another option: they could have been talking about a creature called the Underwater Panther.
That, History Collection says, was also called the Mishibizhiw, and it was a legendary creature who lived in the region's lakes and rivers and drowned those who weren't paying attention to the potential deadly powers of the water. Is that the creature really depicted on the Alligator Effigy Mound? We'll likely never know for sure.
ncG1vNJzZmivp6x7qL7Up56eZpOkunB%2Blmpqb3BfqbWmecyoqq1lna7AtbHRoqauq12csrCzy7KnoatdpLtuwMeeZKmkkaOytXs%3D