Jan Bartek – AncientPages.com – Perched on a ridge near the small village of Leo in Jackson County, Ohio there are curious ancient petroglyphs that remain an unsolved ancient mystery.

The sandstone petroglyphs containing 37 images of humans, birds, animal, and human footprints, a fish, a snake, and other figures are a legacy of an unknown Native American culture. When scientists examined this ancient art, they realized there were two questions they could not answer.

Sandstone petroglyph near the village of Leo, Jackson County, Ohio. Image source

For one thing, researchers have been unable to identify the creators of these remarkable carvings. Another problem is the fact scientists cannot determine the meaning of these images. Were the petroglyphs deliberately made to depict daily life or do these carvings have a symbolic meaning?

The exact age of the petroglyphs found on the edge of an unglaciated Mississippian sandstone cliff 20–65 feet high remains undetermined, but it’s believed the carvings are about 1,000-year-old.

It has been suggested the carvings were made by the Fort Ancient culture, 1000 to 1650 A.D.  that thrived in the areas of modern-day southern Ohio, northern Kentucky, southeastern Indiana, and western West Virginia. There is not much information about the Fort Ancient culture but is known these people were primarily farmers and hunters who lived in villages that had many circular or rectangular houses surrounding an open plaza.

View of the The Great Serpent Mound, one of the most important prehistoric effigy mound of Adema Culture, located on the Ohio river, Ohio, USA. Credit: Timothy A. Price and Nichole I – CC BY-SA 3.0

To begin with, they buried their ᴅᴇᴀᴅ in small burial mounds, but later their burial traditions changed, and they put to rest the deceased in a cemetery with no burial mounds. The Fort Ancient culture is perhaps most famous for the creation of the magnificent and great Serpent Mound of Ohio that is one of the most famous ancient earthworks of Most Famous North America.

Though other serpent mounds can be found in Mexico, Scotland, and Canada, Ohio’s serpent mound is by far the largest and most interesting serpent mound in the world. One must add there is no conclusive evidence the Serpent Mound is a legacy of the Fort Ancient culture, but most scientists think these people were in fact the creators of this impressive ancient earthwork.

What are these images supposed to represent? Image source

This ᴀssumption has also led many to speculatee the Leo petroglyphs in Ohio were also made by the Fort Ancient culture, but we do not know this was the case with certainty.

Some of the Leo Petroglyphs suggest creators of these carvings were in contact with Europeans. This is interesting because although there are no historical records of contact between the Fort Ancient culture and the Europeans scientists have discovered a remarkable amount of European made goods from Fort Ancient sites, including brᴀss and steel items, as well as glᴀssware. The Fort Ancients were heavily affected by European disease, as well as the Beaver Wars period. This Native American culture vanished, but gradually.

Leo Petroglyph, face with headdress. Image source

Some of the mysterious Leo petroglyphs are exceedingly difficult to understand. Whoever did these carvings must have wanted to tell future generations something. Unless the petroglyphs were just produced as entertainment of course. What could be the meaning and purpose of some of these more abstract designs, including one that looks like a cartoon man with horns?

Written by Jan Bartek – AncientPages.com Staff Writer

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