Aerial View of Serpent Mound Crop Formation in Ohio

1. Draw a circle. Draw and extend the horizontal and vertical centerlines.

2. Construct a circle centered at the upper intersection of circle 1 and the vertical centerline, tangent to circle 1 at the lower side.

3. Construct a circle centered at the lower intersection of circle 1 and the vertical centerline, tangent to circle 1 at the upper side.

4. Construct a circle centered at the right intersection of circles 2 and 3, passing through the centers of circles 2 and 3.

5. Construct a circle centered at the left intersection of circles 2 and 3, passing through the centers of circles 2 and 3.

6. Construct a circle concentric to circle 1, passing through the outer intersections of circles 2, 3, 4 and 5, as shown.

7. Copy circle 6 two times, to the centers of circles 4 and 5.

8. Construct a circle centered at the upper intersection of circles 7, passing through the centers of circles 4 and 5.

9. Construct a circle the end-points of the centerline of which coincide with the left intersection of circle 4 and the right intersection of circle 5 with the horizontal centerline.

10. Copy circle 9 to the center of circle 8.

11. Construct a circle centered at the lower intersection of circle 10 and the vertical centerline, passing through the centers of circles 4 and 5.

12. Construct a circle concentric to circle 8, tangent to circle 11 at the lower side.

13. Construct a circle concentric to circle 1, tangent to circles 7 at the near sides.

14. Construct a circle concentric to circle 2, tangent to circle 13 at the lower side.

15. Construct a circle centered at the right intersection of the left circle 7 and the horizontal centerline, passing through the intersections of circles 7.

16. Copy circle 15 to the center of circle 1.

17. Construct a circle centered at the upper intersection of circle 16 and the vertical centerline, tangent to both circles 7 at the near side, see detail.

18. Construct two circles the end-points of the centerlines of which coincide with the left and right intersections respectively of circles 6 and 16 and the horizontal centerline, as shown.

19. Construct a circle concentric to circle 1, tangent to circle 8 at the lower side.

20. Copy circle 19 to the lower intersection of circle 3 and the vertical centerline.

21. Copy circle 9 to the upper intersection of circle 20 and the vertical centerline.

22. Copy circle 19 to the center of circle 21.

23. Construct a circle centered at the lower intersection of circle 16 and the vertical centerline, passing through the intersections of circles 6 and 22.

24. Construct a circle concentric to circle 21, tangent to circle 23 at the lower side.

25. Construct a circle concentric to circle 23, passing through the intersections of circles 6 and 24.

26. Construct a circle concentric to circle 21, tangent to circle 25 at the lower side.

27. Circles 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 8, 12, 14, 17, 18, 21, 24 and 26 form the constituents of the final reconstruction.

28. Remove all parts not visible in the formation itself.

29. Colouring all areas corresponding to standing...

30. ...or to flattened crop, finishes the reconstruction of the 2003 Serpent Mound, Ohio, USA, formation.

31. The final result, matched with the aerial image.

Copyright © 2003, Reprinted with permission of researcher Zef Damen, The Netherlands