Hopewell Culture National Historical Park is a

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...

national historical park National Historic Site (NHS) is a designation for an officially recognized area of national historic significance in the United States. An NHS usually contains a single historical feature directly associated with its subject. The National Historic ...

with

earthworks Earthworks may refer to: Construction *Earthworks (archaeology), human-made constructions that modify the land contour *Earthworks (engineering), civil engineering works created by moving or processing quantities of soil *Earthworks (military), mi ...

and

burial mound Burial, also known as interment or inhumation, is a method of final disposition whereby a dead body is placed into the ground, sometimes with objects. This is usually accomplished by excavating a pit or trench, placing the deceased and objec ...

s from the

Hopewell culture The Hopewell tradition, also called the Hopewell culture and Hopewellian exchange, describes a network of precontact Native American cultures that flourished in settlements along rivers in the northeastern and midwestern Eastern Woodlands from ...

indigenous peoples Indigenous peoples are culturally distinct ethnic groups whose members are directly descended from the earliest known inhabitants of a particular geographic region and, to some extent, maintain the language and culture of those original people ...

who flourished from about 200 BC to AD 500. The park is composed of six separate sites in

Ross County, Ohio Ross County is a county in the Appalachian region of the U.S. state of Ohio. As of the 2020 United States Census, the population was 77,093. Its county seat is Chillicothe, the first and third capital of Ohio. Established on August 20, 1798, th ...

, including the former Mound City Group National Monument. The park includes

archaeological Archaeology or archeology is the scientific study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture. The archaeological record consists of artifacts, architecture, biofacts or ecofacts, sites, and cultural landscap ...

resources of the Hopewell culture. It is administered by the

United States Department of the Interior The United States Department of the Interior (DOI) is one of the executive departments of the U.S. federal government headquartered at the Main Interior Building, located at 1849 C Street NW in Washington, D.C. It is responsible for the ma ...

National Park Service The National Park Service (NPS) is an agency of the United States federal government within the U.S. Department of the Interior that manages all national parks, most national monuments, and other natural, historical, and recreational properti ...

. In 2008, the Department of the Interior included Hopewell Culture National Historical Park as part of the Hopewell Ceremonial Earthworks, one of 14 sites on its tentative list from which the United States makes nominations for the

UNESCO World Heritage Sites A World Heritage Site is a landmark or area with legal protection by an international convention administered by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). World Heritage Sites are designated by UNESCO for ...

Location

Hopewell Culture National Historical Park consists of six geographically separated units: 1. Mound City Group is the site of the visitor center and the only fully restored Hopewell site. Location: Mound City Group 16062 State Route 104 Chillicothe, OH 45601 * This site in Union Township in Ross County. 2. Seip Earthworks Location: 7078 US Route 50 Bainbridge, OH 45612 3. Spruce Hill Earthworks Location: By permit only. Contact the visitor center for information. 4. Hopewell Mound Group Location: 4731 Sulphur Lick Rd. Chillicothe, OH 45601 * This site in Union Township in Ross County. 5. Hopeton Earthworks Location: 990 Hopeton Rd. Chillicothe, OH 45601 6. High Bank Works Location: Not open to the public as of 8/5/2020

History

Hopewell culture

Ancient Works Squier and Davis Plate XIX

From about 200 BC to AD 500, the Ohio River Valley was a central area of the prehistoric Hopewell culture. The term Hopewell (taken from the land owner who owned the land where one of the mound complexes was located) culture is applied to a broad network of beliefs and practices among different Native American peoples who inhabited a large portion of eastern North America. The culture is characterized by its construction of

enclosures Enclosure or Inclosure is a term, used in English landownership, that refers to the appropriation of "waste" or "common land" enclosing it and by doing so depriving commoners of their rights of access and privilege. Agreements to enclose land ...

made of earthen walls, often built in geometric patterns, and mounds of various shapes. Visible remnants of Hopewell culture are concentrated in the

Scioto River The Scioto River ( ) is a river in central and southern Ohio more than in length. It rises in Hardin County just north of Roundhead, Ohio, flows through Columbus, Ohio, where it collects its largest tributary, the Olentangy River, and meets t ...

valley near present-day

Chillicothe, Ohio Chillicothe ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Ross County, Ohio, United States. Located along the Scioto River 45 miles (72 km) south of Columbus, Chillicothe was the first and third capital of Ohio. It is the only city in Ross Coun ...

. The most striking Hopewell sites contain

in the form of squares, circles, and other geometric shapes. Many of these sites were built to a monumental scale, with earthen walls up to high outlining geometric figures more than across. Conical and loaf-shaped earthen mounds up to high are often found in association with the geometric earthworks. The people who built them had a detailed knowledge of the local soils, and they combined different types to provide the most stability to the works. It required the organized labor of thousands of man hours, as people carried the earth in handwoven baskets. Hopewell Culture NHP entry sign - 2017-05-10

Hopewell Culture NHP entry sign - 2017-05-10

Hopewell culture nhp raven effigy pipe chillicothe ohio 2006

Mound City, located on Ohio Highway 104 approximately north of Chillicothe along the

, is a group of 23 earthen mounds constructed by the Hopewell culture. Each mound within the group covered the remains of a

charnel house A charnel house is a vault or building where human skeletal remains are stored. They are often built near churches for depositing bones that are unearthed while digging graves. The term can also be used more generally as a description of a pl ...

. After the Hopewell people

cremated Cremation is a method of final disposition of a dead body through burning. Cremation may serve as a funeral or post-funeral rite and as an alternative to burial. In some countries, including India and Nepal, cremation on an open-air pyre ...

the dead, they burned the charnel house. They constructed a mound over the remains. They also placed artifacts, such as

copper Copper is a chemical element with the symbol Cu (from la, cuprum) and atomic number 29. It is a soft, malleable, and ductile metal with very high thermal and electrical conductivity. A freshly exposed surface of pure copper has a pink ...

figures,

mica Micas ( ) are a group of silicate minerals whose outstanding physical characteristic is that individual mica crystals can easily be split into extremely thin elastic plates. This characteristic is described as perfect basal cleavage. Mica is ...

, projectile points, shells, and pipes in the mounds.

Discovery and protection

European Americans first mapped the site in the 1840s. The archaeologists

Ephraim George Squier Ephraim George Squier (June 17, 1821 – April 17, 1888), usually cited as E. G. Squier, was an American archaeologist, history writer, painter and newspaper editor. Biography Squier was born in Bethlehem, New York, the son of a minister, Joel S ...

and

Edwin Hamilton Davis Edwin Hamilton Davis (January 22, 1811 – May 15, 1888) was an American physician and self taught archaeologist who completed pioneering investigations of the mound builders in the Mississippi Valley. Davis gathered what, at that time, was the ...

were the first excavators of the site and amassed a large collection of Mound artifacts that is now preserved at the

British Museum The British Museum is a public museum dedicated to human history, art and culture located in the Bloomsbury area of London. Its permanent collection of eight million works is among the largest and most comprehensive in existence. It docum ...

. Much of it was destroyed during

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...

when the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, ...

constructed a military training base, Camp Sherman, on the site. After the war, they razed the camp. The

Ohio Historical Society Ohio History Connection, formerly The Ohio State Archaeological and Historical Society and Ohio Historical Society, is a nonprofit organization incorporated in 1885. Headquartered at the Ohio History Center in Columbus, Ohio, Ohio History Connect ...

conducted an

archaeological excavation In archaeology, excavation is the exposure, processing and recording of archaeological remains. An excavation site or "dig" is the area being studied. These locations range from one to several areas at a time during a project and can be condu ...

of the site from 1920–1922, followed by reconstruction of the mounds. "Mound City Group"
''Hopewell Culture National Historical Park'', National Park Service, accessed 23 Sep 2009 In 1923, the Department of Interior declared the Mound City Group a

National Monument A national monument is a monument constructed in order to commemorate something of importance to national heritage, such as a country's founding, independence, war, or the life and death of a historical figure. The term may also refer to a spe ...

, to be administered by the Federal government. In 1992, Mound City Group was renamed and expanded as Hopewell Culture National Historical Park. Its definition included remnants of four other nearby earthwork and mound systems. Two Ross County sites are within a few miles of Mound City and open to the public. Seip Earthworks is located west of Chillicothe on U.S. Route 50. Hopewell Mound Group is the site of the 1891 excavation on the land of Mordecai Hopewell (for whom the culture is named).

Hopeton Earthworks The Hopeton Earthworks are an Ohio Hopewell culture archaeological site consisting of mounds and earthwork enclosures. It is located on the eastern bank of the Scioto River just north of Chillicothe in Ross County, Ohio, about east of the Mound ...

located across the Scioto River from Mound City and High Bank Works, which is closed to the public. The Ohio Historical Society also maintains a number of mound systems and elaborate earthworks in the southern Ohio area, including the

National Historic Landmark A National Historic Landmark (NHL) is a building, district, object, site, or structure that is officially recognized by the United States government for its outstanding historical significance. Only some 2,500 (~3%) of over 90,000 places liste ...

s of

Fort Ancient Fort Ancient is a name for a Native American culture that flourished from Ca. 1000-1750 CE and predominantly inhabited land near the Ohio River valley in the areas of modern-day southern Ohio, northern Kentucky, southeastern Indiana and western ...

, Newark Earthworks, and Serpent Mound. Fifteen mound complexes earlier identified in the county have been lost to agriculture or urban development. The national park contains nationally significant archaeological resources, including large earthwork and mound complexes. These provide insight into the sophisticated and complex social, ceremonial, political, and economic life of the Hopewell people. The park visitor center features museum exhibits with artifacts excavated from the Mound City Group, an orientation film, book sales area, and self-guided and guided tours.

References

External links

Hopewell Culture National Historical Park

Mound City, Ancient Ohio Trail

Hopewell Ceremonial Earthworks UNESCO World Heritage Nomination

Ancient Monuments of the Mississippi Valley
which features Hopewell Culture National Historical Park, as Mound City {{authority control Archaeological type sites Ohio Hopewell National Historical Parks of the United States State parks of Ohio Protected areas of Ross County, Ohio National Register of Historic Places in Ross County, Ohio Protected areas of Ohio Museums in Ross County, Ohio Archaeological sites on the National Register of Historic Places in Ohio Archaeological museums in Ohio Native American museums in Ohio National Park Service areas in Ohio Protected areas established in 1923 Mounds in Ohio 1923 establishments in Ohio Parks on the National Register of Historic Places in Ohio