McLaughlin Mound

	McLaughlin Mound
	U.S. National Register of Historic Places
	Cemetery Mound diagrams published in 1914
Nearest city	Mount Vernon
Area	Less than 1 acre (0.40 ha)
NRHP reference No.	72001025
Added to NRHP	December 11, 1972

The McLaughlin Mound, also called Cemetery Mound, is a Native American mound in the central part of the U.S. state of Ohio. Located in Mound View Cemetery near the city of Mount Vernon in Knox County, it is an important archaeological site.^[3]

McLaughlin measures approximately 5.5 feet (1.7 m) high and 75 feet (23 m) in diameter. Located on a hill with an elevation of 1,080 feet (330 m), it is typical of burial mounds constructed by people of the Adena culture. Although the date of work is uncertain, it is known to have been excavated at some point in the past; those digging into the mound discovered burned bones in the course of their work. Such a discovery is typical of Adena mounds: the Adena frequently placed bodies within wooden buildings that were ceremonially burned, after which they constructed mounds atop the site. As a result, it is likely that a comprehensive excavation of the mound would discover features such as postholes; excavations of similar mounds located along Alum Creek to the west revealed the remains of houses and cremated bodies.^[4]

When excavated in the late 19th century, it was found to contain an ancient skeleton with traces of fabric as well as a copper crescent at the neck, bear teeth along the left arm, and sea shells at the hips. The cone-shaped mound showed signs of being carefully constructed and was symmetrical with a circular base.^[5]

In 1972, the McLaughlin Mound was listed on the National Register of Historic Places because of its archaeological significance; it is one of three Knox County mounds on the Register, along with the Raleigh and Stackhouse Mounds near Fredericktown to the northwest.^[1] Key to its designation was its potential to reveal further information about its builders, as post-excavation analysis of any artifacts found within the mound might give archaeologists a substantially clearer understanding of the population movements and cultural developments of the Adena people in central Ohio.^[4]

References

^ ^a ^b "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. July 9, 2010.
^ Mills, William Corless (1914). Archeological Atlas of Ohio: showing the distribution of the various classes of prehistoric remains in the state, with a map of the principal Indian trails and towns. Columbus, Ohio: Ohio State Archaeological and Historical Society. p. 97.
^ Jordan, Mark Sebastian (December 29, 2018). "The people of an earlier age: Moundbuilders in Knox County, Part 1". Knox Pages. Mansfield, Ohio. The ancient mound is officially known as the McLaughlin Mound, presumably after an early land owner.
^ ^a ^b Owen, Lorrie K., ed. Dictionary of Ohio Historic Places. Vol. 2. St. Clair Shores: Somerset, 1999, 814-815.
^ Powell, J.W. (1894). Twelfth Annual Report of the Bureau of Ethnology to the Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution 1890-'91. Washington, D.C.: U.S. Government Printing Office. pp. 444–445.

[nris-1] "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. July 9, 2010.

[2] Mills, William Corless (1914). Archeological Atlas of Ohio: showing the distribution of the various classes of prehistoric remains in the state, with a map of the principal Indian trails and towns. Columbus, Ohio: Ohio State Archaeological and Historical Society. p. 97.

[3] Jordan, Mark Sebastian (December 29, 2018). "The people of an earlier age: Moundbuilders in Knox County, Part 1". Knox Pages. Mansfield, Ohio. The ancient mound is officially known as the McLaughlin Mound, presumably after an early land owner.

[dohp-4] Owen, Lorrie K., ed. Dictionary of Ohio Historic Places. Vol. 2. St. Clair Shores: Somerset, 1999, 814-815.

[5] Powell, J.W. (1894). Twelfth Annual Report of the Bureau of Ethnology to the Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution 1890-'91. Washington, D.C.: U.S. Government Printing Office. pp. 444–445.

[2]

[1]

[3]

[4]

[5]

v t e Adena Culture
List of Adena culture sites Woodland period Mound Builders List of archaeological periods (North America)
Ohio sites	Adena Austin Brown Arledge Beam Farm Clemmons Conrad Coon Hunters George Deffenbaugh Enon Fortner Great Mound Hartley Highbanks Metro Park Hillside Haven Hodgen's Cemetery Horn Hurley Jackson Karshner Kinzer Luthor List McDaniel Miamisburg Mound Cemetery Odd Fellows' Cemetery Old Maid's Orchard Orators Carl Potter Raleigh Reeves D.S. Rose Ross Trails Circle Short Woods Park Shrum Snead Spruce Run David Stitt Story (Cincinnati) Story (Chillicothe) Williamson Wolf Plains Wright-Patterson Zaleski
Kentucky sites	Biggs Gaitskill Jim King Mound Mound Hill Mount Horeb Ramey Round Hill
West Virginia sites	Camden Park Mound Cotiga Mound Cresap Mound Criel Goff Mound Grave Creek Lynden Reynolds Farm Mound Neibert Mound St. Albans Site St Mary's Mound Turkey Creek Mound
Indiana sites	Mounds State Park
Category

v t e U.S. National Register of Historic Places
Topics	Architectural style categories Contributing property Historic district History of the National Register of Historic Places Keeper of the Register National Park Service Property types
Lists by state	List of U.S. National Historic Landmarks by state: Alabama Alaska Arizona Arkansas California Colorado Connecticut Delaware Florida Georgia Hawaii Idaho Illinois Indiana Iowa Kansas Kentucky Louisiana Maine Maryland Massachusetts Michigan Minnesota Mississippi Missouri Montana Nebraska Nevada New Hampshire New Jersey New Mexico New York North Carolina North Dakota Ohio Oklahoma Oregon Pennsylvania Rhode Island South Carolina South Dakota Tennessee Texas Utah Vermont Virginia Washington West Virginia Wisconsin Wyoming
Lists by insular areas	American Samoa Guam Minor Outlying Islands Northern Mariana Islands Puerto Rico Virgin Islands
Lists by associated state	Federated States of Micronesia Marshall Islands Palau
Other areas	District of Columbia American Legation, Morocco
Related	National Historic Preservation Act Historic Preservation Fund List of jails and prisons on the National Register of Historic Places University and college buildings listed on the National Register of Historic Places
National Register of Historic Places portal Category