Benham Mound | |
 Looking up a hillside toward the mound | |
   | |
| Location | Section 30 of the original Columbia Township, off Montgomery Road[2][3] |
|---|---|
| Nearest city | Amberley,Ohio |
| Coordinates | 39°11′38.55″N84°25′16.97″W / 39.1940417°N 84.4213806°W /39.1940417; -84.4213806 |
| Area | 1 acre (0.40 ha) |
| NRHP reference No. | 74001508[1] |
| Added to NRHP | July 30, 1974 |
TheBenham Mound is aNative American mound in the southwestern part of theU.S. state ofOhio.[1] Located in modernAmberley Village inHamilton County,[3] the mound is anarchaeological site.[1]
A volume of Hamilton County history, published in the nineteenth century, described the Benham Mound, named for a local farmer, as "a fine, large mound," which measured 8 feet (2.4 m) high and with a circumference of approximately 200 feet (61 m).[2] Other dimensions exist that suggest a smaller structure that stood approximately 6.8 feet (2.1 m) in height and 57 feet (17 m) in diameter east and west and 50 feet (15 m) north to south.[4] The mound is located on a hilltop that overlooks the valley of a tributary creek that flows west into theMill Creek, which correlates withSection 30 of the originalColumbia Township, near theMontgomery turnpike (nowU.S. Route 22[5]), that is, near end of present-day Grand Vista Avenue. TheNorwood Mound lies approximately 1.5 miles (2.4 km) to the southwest.[2]
During the late nineteenth century, local residents partially excavated the mound and the ground around it; their diggings revealed significant amounts ofmica and diverse types ofstone tools, including axes,scrapers, chisels, and flintprojectile points. These findings, combined with the location of the mound itself, have led archaeologists to conclude that Benham Mound was built by people of theHopewell tradition.[4] Because of its archaeological value, the Benham Mound was listed on theNational Register of Historic Places in 1974.[1]
