Prehistoric lecture continues Sept. 29

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The Southern Ohio Museum and Cultural Center’s 2022 Prehistory Lecture Series continues on Thursday, September 29, at 6pm in the museum’s Hopkins Theatre. Jeffrey Wilson, Researcher, Author, Publisher, and President of the Friends of Serpent Mound non-profit organization, will present, “Ancient Monuments of the Mississippi Valley: The Expanded Edition.”

In 1848, the newly established Smithsonian Institution released their first publication. Authored by Ephraim George Squier and Edwin Hamilton Davis, Ancient Monuments of the Mississippi Valley is over 300 pages of surveys, illustrations, and descriptions of the prehistoric mounds of the Eastern Woodlands, as well as artifacts and burials contained within the earthworks.

Through his dedicated research, Jeffrey Wilson has discovered in national and private collections the original surveys used as source material by Squier to create the contents of Ancient Monuments of the Mississippi Valley. Wilson’s research has helped to acknowledge the work of many people across the country who contributed to this famous book.

Wilson will publish his findings in an upcoming book entitled, Ancient Monuments of the Mississippi Valley: The Expanded Edition. The source material discovered by Wilson includes details of the earthworks which were sometimes altered or omitted from the final survey prints which were published by the Smithsonian Institution.

Wilson’s talk at the Southern Ohio Museum and Cultural Center will focus on the preliminary surveys of the Portsmouth Earthworks Complex. Because the Portsmouth Earthworks Complex was once the largest prehistoric earthen mound complex in the entire world, there are more of these 19th Century source surveys related to components of the Portsmouth Earthworks Complex than to any of the other earthworks illustrated in Ancient Monuments of the Mississippi Valley.

Wilson’s research has revealed aspects of the Portsmouth Earthworks Complex that have previously gone unknown. These revelations grant us a greater understanding of and appreciation for the monumental constructions created by the people living in the area around 2,000 years ago.

The 2022 Prehistory Lecture Series is admission free and open to the public. For more information, please call the Southern Ohio Museum and Cultural Center at 740-354-5629 or email [email protected].

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