The Serpent Mound may have been designed in accord with the pattern of stars composing the constellation [[Draco]] (dragon). The star pattern of the constellation Draco fits with fair precision to the Serpent Mound.
=== Placement ===
[[Image:00881.TIF6.gif|thumb|left|180px|A depiction of the serpent mound that appeared in ''The Century'' periodical in April, 1890]]
The mound is located on a plateau with a unique [[cryptoexplosion]] structure that contains faulted and folded [[bedrock]], which is usually either produced by a [[meteorite]] or a [[volcano|volcanic]] explosion. ''Determining exactly what formed the Serpent Mound Cryptoexplosion Structure is a problem that geologists continue to debate. Two main solutions have been offered. Some geologists think the structure is a meteorite or asteroid crater. Others suggest that the structure was caused by forces from inside the earth, probably an explosive eruption of gases derived from a deep magma source in the basement rocks.''<ref> Glotzhober, Robert C. and Bradley T. Lepper, Serpent Mound: Ohio's Enigmatic Effigy Mound, Ohio Historical Society, Columbus, Ohio, 1994 </ref> This is one of the few places in North America where such an occurrence is seen. While some scholars speculate that prehistoric Native Americans may have placed the mound with regard to this geological anomaly, others think there was nothing visible at ground level that would have captured their attention.
In 2003 geologists from Ohio state government and the University of Glasgow (Scotland) concluded that a meteorite strike was responsible for the formation. They had studied core samples collected at the site in the 1970s. Further analyses of the rock core samples indicated the meteorite impact occurred during the Permian Period, about 248 to 286 million years ago. <ref>[http://www.ohiodnr.com/news/dec03/1216meteorite/tabid/14348/Default.aspx UNIQUE SOUTH-CENTRAL OHIO ROCK STRUCTURE IS PROBABLY THE RESULT OF ANCIENT METEORITE STRIKING THE EARTH], Ohio Dept of Natural Resources, 12 Dec 2003, accessed 4 Dec 2008</ref>
