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Dec 4, 2022 · We were at The Octagon, part of the Hopewell Ceremonial Earthworks, a large network of hand-constructed hills spread throughout central and southern Ohio that were built as many as 2,000 years ago ...
The Moundbuilders' Art: A Confluence of 'Ingenuity, Industry, and Elegance' Map of Mounds in the Ohio River Valley. Who Were the 'Mound Builders'? Early Woodland Period - The Adena Culture
- Overview
- Newark Earthworks
- Hopewell Culture National Historical Park
- Fort Ancient Earthworks & Nature Preserve
Eight sites in central and southern Ohio comprise the Hopewell Ceremonial Earthworks, sprawling embankments built by little-known Indigenous tribes.
Steam fog rises from mounds at Hopewell Culture National Historical Park, one of several sites across Ohio built by ancient Native Americans.
An earthen circle large enough to contain the Empire State Building on its side. An octagonal earthwork capable of holding four Roman Coliseums. A vast hilltop enclosure overlooking a dramatic river gorge.
These wonders are among the eight sites in central and southern Ohio that UNESCO recently placed on its World Heritage list as the Hopewell Ceremonial Earthworks. The first recognized in the state and the 25th in the United States, these structures are the largest geometrically shaped earthworks on the planet, now on par with fellow World Heritage sites Stonehenge, Machu Picchu, and the Great Wall of China.
The prehistoric Hopewell culture, which flourished in the river valleys of southern Ohio between roughly 200 and 500 B.C., is one of several North American Indigenous people archaeologists once collectively referred to as “mound builders.” Some experts argue that the Hopewells (named for the farmer on whose land the mounds were discovered in the 1890s) were among the most advanced of all North American Indigenous cultures in mathematics, civil engineering, and astronomy.
Their trade networks swept across most of the continent. They gathered materials for their artwork as far as the Yellowstone region, the Great Lakes, the Carolinas, and the Gulf of Mexico. At a time when all roads in Europe famously led to Rome, something similar was happening in North America, converging on Ohio.
455 Hebron Road, Heath
These earthworks are collectively located in the charming towns of Heath and Newark, about 30 miles east of Columbus. Experts estimate that it took roughly seven million cubic feet of dirt to build this four-square-mile complex including a square, an ellipse, and walled avenues, most of which has now disappeared with only two structures—The Great Circle and The Octagon—remaining.
Brad Lepper, curator of archaeology at Ohio History Connection, says these earthworks, comprise an important religious site reflecting the Hopewells’ deepest-held beliefs in the cosmos and their place in it. “This was their Jerusalem, their Mecca,” he says.
(Could Ocmulgee Mounds be Georgia’s first national park?)
The Great Circle, 1,200 feet in circumference, offers the best visitor experience, with a small museum (open Thursday-Saturday, April-October) highlighting Hopewell mounds throughout Ohio. You can also walk into the center of the circle to take in the earthwork in its entirety.
Left: Large mounds dot the landscape around the Great Circle, one of the best sites to explore at Newark Earthworks.
16062 State Route 104, Chillicothe
About 60 miles southwest of Newark, the broad fertile valley of the Scioto River once held as many as 30 geometric complexes. Late archaeologist N’omi Greber called this area “the epicenter of the Hopewell universe,” possibly because of a large concentration of Hopewells that lived close by.
Most of these structures have been lost. At three of the five sites in Chillicothe named in the World Heritage declaration, the mounds have degraded to mere swellings in the earth. But a large 30-foot hill still exists at the Seip Earthworks. A fourth site is closed to the public.
The best site to explore here is the Mound City Group, a collection of two dozen densely clustered hillocks ranging from about 3 to 18 feet tall undulating across 17 acres. Visitors can walk through an enclosure to the embankments, but a better vantage point is to trace the perimeter of the walls, getting a view of the entire area. A visitors center and museum stand near the main entrance.
6123 State Route 350, Oregonia
Located about 35 miles northeast of Cincinnati, Fort Ancient is encircled by a breathtaking earthen wall—as tall as 25 feet in some sections. It slinks across three and a half miles, making it the largest of the Hopewell earthworks by far. Once thought to be a fortress, experts now believe it’s another religious site, especially for observing the summer and winter solstices.
- Rich Warren
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- The Shawshank Redemption, Mansfield. Many of these sites are open to the public and are featured on the Shawshank Trail. Among them: * The Ohio State Reformatory, which substitutes for Shawshank State Prison in the movie.
- The Avengers, Cleveland. Downtown Cleveland stands in for both New York City and Stuttgart, Germany, in this action-packed superhero flick, released in 2012.
- Captain America: The Winter Soldier, Cleveland. Cleveland subs for Washington, D.C., in this 2014 Marvel movie, which features a downtown chase scene, Tower City Center, the Cleveland Museum of Art, Lake View Cemetery and other sites.
Nov 13, 2023 · Hopewell Ceremonial Earthworks in Ohio was added to UNESCO’s list of World Heritage sites on Sept. 19, 2023. The eight mound complexes that received this designation are spread across central ...
Legacy of the Mound Builders. 0 seconds of 16 minutes, 13 secondsVolume 90%. 00:00. 16:13. Location: Ohio Length: 17 min. While the Greeks were building temples in the Old World, incredible monuments of earth were being constructed across eastern North America. Thousands of mounds and mile upon mile of earthen embankments are part of the rich ...
- 16 min
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Jun 29, 2019 · And it’s been standing tall like this for over 2,000 years. The Miamisburg Mound became locally well known as soon as the earliest United States settlers arrived in the early 1800’s. The mound was eventually gifted to the Ohio Historical Society in 1929, and the state turned it into a tourist attraction in the 1930’s.
