Larger Horseshoe Shaped Earthwork Diagramed at Portsmouth, Ohio "The Door of Life"

Larger Horseshoe Shaped Earthwork Diagramed at Portsmouth, Ohio  "The Door of Life"

   The horseshoe symbol was used as an ancient religious symbol in Assyrian and Egyptian hieroglyphs meant to signify the enigmatic “door of life”. 

Late 1800s Scioto County, map depicts a third horseshoe-shaped earthwork to the south as large as the two above it to the north.  

Map drawn by Squire and Davis in  1846 for "Ancient Monuments of the Mississippi Valley" shows the earthwork's opening facing the northwest and much smaller.

Equinox Solar Alignment of the Earthworks at the Henry County, Henge Complex

Equinox Solar Alignment of the Earthworks at the Henry County, Henge Complex

The large burial mound that was surrounded by a ditch and earthwork has nearly been obliterated Ball State archaeologists.  Standing in the center of where the mound once was and looking west on the sunset of the Equinox sunset the sun aligns with mound #1.

The map shows mound #4 to the extreme right and mound #1 to the extreme left. 

Evidence of Human Sacrifice at the Portsmouth, Ohio Earthworks

The Children's Home was constructed in 1876 and is now part of "Mounds Park."

Prehistoric America, 1905

   Mr. T. W.Kinney says the mound, which was a natural elevation, was selected as the site for a children's house. In excavating the cellar there was discovered a circular altar composed of stones which were standing close together and showed evidence of heat.  This altar was four feet below the surface. leading from the altar was a channel about eighteen inches wide, composed of clay, which was designed to "Carry off the blood," giving the idea that human sacrifices were offered here, as upon the alters of Avebury, England

The site of the Children's Home where the stone altar was located is to the west of the "road" and north of the cemetery.

Iroquois Legend of a Bridge Spanning the Ohio River Constructed by the Adena. Portsmouth?

Iroquois Legend of a Bridge Spanning the Ohio River Constructed by the Adena. Portsmouth?

Iroquois Book of Rites, 1883
    "In Iroquois hydrography, the Ohio--the great river of the ancient Alligewi domain--is the central stream to which all the rivers of the mighty West converge. This stream the emigrants now attempted to cross. They found, according to the native annalist, a rude bridge in a huge grape-vine which trailed its length across the stream. Over this a part of the company passed, and then, unfortunately, the vine broke. The residue, unable to cross, remained on the hither side, and became afterwards the enemies of those who had passed over."