Ancient Monuments of America Giant Geometric Earthwork Complexes of the Hopewell Culture

Ancient Monuments of America Giant Geometric Earthwork Complexes of the Hopewell Culture

What’s so special about Hopewell Earthworks?

Hopewell Earthworks - a cultural resource of national significance.


Hopewell Earthwork Complexes are:



• Geometrical



• Geometrical



• Geometrical

• Precise



• Geometrical

• Precise



• Geometrical

• Precise

• Enormous



• Geometrical

• Precise

• Enormous



• Geometrical

• Precise

• Enormous

• Astronomically Aligned



• Geometrical

• Precise

• Enormous




• Geometrical

• Precise

• Enormous


• and densely clustered around…



• Geometrical

• Precise

• Enormous

• Aligned

• and densely clustered around…

southern Ohio

The Hopewell Heartland

A prehistoric fascination with… GEOMETRY

A prehistoric fascination with… GEOMETRY

A prehistoric fascination with… GEOMETRYEmbankment walls enclose the perfect shapes of:


circles


circles squares


circles squares and other polygons


circles squares and other polygonsParallel walls form mysterious passageways.

A culture advanced in… MATHEMATICS


Precise Measurements and Masterful Engineering


These four giant complexes are miles apart, yet their design and dimensions are strikingly similar, all comprised of a small circle, a large circle and a square. When measured by Squier and Davis in the 1840’s, the four great squares were all 1,080 feet to a side, 27.2 acres! Geometric enclosures with nearly identical dimensions are common in widely separated Hopewell earthwork complexes.

Precise Measurements and Masterful Engineering

Engineering on a grand scale



The Newark Earthworks stretch across a 4½ square mile area!

ENORMOUS

ENORMOUS

ENORMOUS

Earthwork walls more than ten feet high and fifty feet wide,

ENORMOUS

Earthwork walls more than ten feet high and fifty feet wide,

that stretch on for miles!

Larger than a small European country?

Larger than a small European country?

Ancient Astronomers

Ancient AstronomersAstronomical alignments are common characteristic of Hopewell earthworks. The architects of these massive complexes planned them to point to important phases in the movements of the sun and the moon.

Ancient AstronomersAstronomical alignments are common characteristic of Hopewell earthworks. The architects of these massive complexes planned them to point to important phases in the movements of the sun and the moon.

One of the most dramatic examples is High Bank Works, part of Hopewell Culture National Historical Park. Here, there are no burial mounds. This ceremonial complex was designed to be nothing less than a giant astronomical observatory.

Ancient Astronomers

Ancient Astronomers

Ancient Astronomers

Ancient Astronomers

Globally significant?

Globally significant?

Eight Hopewell complexes in Ohio have been accepted as nominations for prestigious World Heritage Site status with UNESCO.

Unfortunately….

Unfortunately….

all of the great earthwork complexes built by the Hopewell Culture have been badly damaged.

Obliterated

What 200 years of plowing will do…

Obliterated


Obliterated


Still detectable with LiDAR and other modern technologies

Obliterated


Still detectable with LiDAR and other modern technologies

but otherwise, most of these magnificent structures are largely invisible!

Obliterated

Magnificent Hopeton Earthworks, part of Hopewell Culture National Historical Park, was measured and mapped by Squier and Davis in the 1840’s. It is one of the few earthworks of which they also drew a picture.

1848

1938

1974

The only fully reconstructed Hopewell earthwork complex is part of Hopewell Culture National Historical Park. At only fifteen acres, this early Hopewell work is quite small compared to other ceremonial complexes in the area.

Within the reconstructed walls of Mound City, visitors can sense what it might have been like to attend a sacred ceremony here 2,000 years ago.

Seip Earthworks

Two miles of ten foot high walls enclosed over 120 acres

Seip Earthworks

The walls of Seip Earthworks today

However, even in their degraded condition, these ancient monuments are still priceless cultural and scientific resources.

However, even in their degraded condition, these ancient monuments are still priceless cultural and scientific resources.

Thanks to modern archaeological technology, the foundations of these national treasures can still be detected, without even excavating.

Magnetometers can detect iron objects, burned earth and concentrations of organic-rich soil, such as refuse dumped in middens or abandoned prehistoric cooking pits.

Electrical resistance meter detects earthen features such as earthworks, compact surfaces and buried sand or gravel layers that contrast with the surrounding soil matrix.

Magnetometers can detect iron objects, burned earth and concentrations of organic-rich soil, such as refuse dumped in middens or abandoned prehistoric cooking pits.

No earthworks are visible in this aerial photograph.

Results of a magnetometry survey superimposed on an aerial photograph.

A magnetometer can detect the underlying structure of earthworks even if they are invisible above ground. Archaeologists can still learn a lot about the mysterious culture who built these earthworks from what remains below ground.

Results of a magnetometry survey superimposed on an aerial photograph.

Find out what you can do to help preserve these national treasures

Find out what you can do to help preserve these national treasures

by clicking on “How can I help?”

in the menu at left.

Thank you!

Documents

Ancient Monuments of America Giant Geometric Earthwork Complexes of the Hopewell Culture