page_title: Prehistory of Ohio
section_title: Adena Culture
hierarchical_section_title: Prehistory of Ohio / Post Archaic / Adena Culture
caption_attribution_description: English: Miamisburg Mound, the largest conical mound in Ohio.
context_page_description: Prehistory of Ohio provides an overview of the activities that occurred prior to Ohio's recorded history. The ancient hunters, Paleo-Indians, descended from humans that crossed the Bering Strait. There is evidence of Paleo-Indians in Ohio, who were hunter-gatherers that ranged widely over land to hunt large game. For instance, mastodon bones were found at the Burning Tree Mastodon site that showed that it had been butchered. Clovis points have been found that indicate interaction with other groups and hunted large game. The Paleo Crossing Site and Nobles Pond Site provide evidence that groups interacted with one another. The Paleo-Indian's diet included fish, small game, and nuts and berries that gathered. They lived in simple shelters made of wood and bark or hides. Canoes were created by digging out trees with granite axes.
  The weather warmed and forest grew more dense with next period of the Archaic people. Although they were also hunter-gatherers, they did not travel as far for food and began to live longer periods of time in one place. They dug pits to store food and built studier lodging. Tools, like spear-throwers, were more sophisticated.
context_section_description: The Adena culture—found in southern Ohio and neighboring states—flourished during the Early Woodland period. People of the Adena culture were artistic and had created pipes and earthworks as part of ceremonial rituals. They created elaborate siltstone pipes and other items for ceremonial and burial practices. They constructed earthworks, like conical burial mounds and circular enclosures—some of the earliest earthworks built in Ohio.
  There were also people in northern Ohio who lived similarly to the Adena culture, but their earthworks were oval enclosures called forts and walls along bluffs. They did not create large earthen mounds.
caption: Miamisburg Mound, the largest conical mound in Ohio.
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