Effigies in Stone. A remarkable effigy of a serpent-monster, part horned serpent and part quadruped, beautifully carved in red slate, also from this altar, is illustrated in plate 19, a, b, and a side view is given in figure 32. This was broken into many pieces, most of which were recovered. The head and tail are those of the horned serpent. The latter has the usual rattles. On the head, above and below, appear the typical reptilian plates. Two of the horns are carved in relief, and two are made separately, being inserted in holes drilled at the sides. Drilled holes also form the eye sockets, into which were doubtless inserted pearls, as was usual in the smaller animal effigies of this class. The mouth is open, as shown in the side view. This opening is plain, depressed, and without teeth.

It is probable that this depression was originally inlaid with some material representing teeth, for there are two holes drilled upward into each side of the forward portion of the upper jaw beneath the nostrils in which two canine teeth of some small mammal were probably inserted. The body is that of a quadruped, and is ornamented with a decorative band. The vent is pronounced, a feature occasionally noticeable in Indian representations of both birds and quadrupeds, the significance of which is not clear. The effigy probably represents the water-monster or serpent-dragon, a mythical being of the Kiowa and other northern tribes, which is referred to by James Mooney as the "water-monster formed like a horned alligator." 

from The Turner Group of Earthworks, Hamilton County, Ohio. Charles Willoughby  - 1922