Dominion Land Company Mound An Early Woodlands Period Structure/Sunwall and Moonwall Murals

Dominion Land Company Mound An Early Woodlands Period Structure/Sunwall and Moonwall Murals. . , Dominion Land Company Mound An Early Woodlands Period Structure , In the early 1800s, Prosper Wetmore wrote about his childhood memories of native mounds in the ravine area of Northwestern Clinton Township. At that time, he recalled two conical mounds about 10’ high. He reported these mounds as under cultivation. In 1953 the Dominion Land Company began demolition of the mounds as part of the overall development of the area. Preservationists stepped in, asking Columbus City Council to purchase the land to create a park. Members of the community countered, petitioning for removal of the mounds. Fortunately, the Dominion Land Company agreed to allow archaeologists from the Ohio Historical Society to salvage the site. Over the next four months, ancient items were cataloged. The overall site represented 2.9 acres. One mound had been all but destroyed by the Land Company. It was cataloged as containing “black earth.” The other mound was 60” in diameter and 6’ high. This mound contained the burial of a young girl- possibly 6 to 8 years old. An embankment, 17’ in width, surrounded the mounds. It was 400 feet in diameter and almost a perfect circle. It is believed that the site was used as a mortuary. More than 48 post molds were located indicating that a large structure had been built on the site. That structure included a hearth.

Dominion Thick was the name given by archaeologist Ann Cramer to the unique ceramics recovered at the site. The site contained two, full- sized, barrel- shaped pots with lug handles as well as hundreds of shards and fragments from other pots. Some of the pieces were decorated with “Flying Triangles.”

Sunwall and Moonwall Murals , In July of 2014, artist Danielle Poling created the Sunwall and Moonwall murals on the railroad overpass at Cooke Road. These large scale works of art were designed to pay tribute to the early Americans. The walls use native symbols and cave paintings tech- niques to remind current residents and visitors of those who lived here before us.

The Moonwall was created using blues and greens. The trees depicted here are barren connecting to the winter or end of life cycle. The wall features the phases of the moon as well as the outlines of native mounds located in Ohio. One prominent outline is of the Dominion Land Company Mound which was located near this site. Other symbols include the bear, wolf and raven all linked to artifacts found in the Tremper and Mound City complexes. The hand image is from Hopewell mound group in Ross County.

The Sunwall features the phases of the sun. Its brighter colors call to mind spring and summer. Symbols representing harvest are present on the wall. The medicine wheel, a more current symbol used by Native Americans, is centered on this wall. The large bird was inspired by the copper bird found during the excavation at Mound City. The trees depicted here are full with spinning leaves. Corn and Sunflowers represent native food sources.