Located northeast of Laurelville in Hocking County,[2] the mound sits on a ridgeline; it is 6.5 feet (2.0 m) tall and approximately 50 feet (15 m) in diameter.
It was first excavated at an unknown date prior to 1941; at this time, a hole was sunk from the mound's crest to its base, and a smaller hole was dug into its edge.
[3] The mound's location and conical shape indicates that it is a work of the Adena culture, which was active between 1000 BC and AD 400.
Occupation of the vicinity was not seemingly limited to the Adena period; approximately 0.3 miles (0.48 km) away from the Deffenbaugh Mound is a stone mound perhaps built by the Fort Ancient culture, perhaps more than one thousand years after the construction of the Deffenbaugh Mound.
[3] In 1974, the Deffenbaugh Mound was listed on the National Register of Historic Places because of its potential to be a valuable archaeological site.