Hopeton Earthworks to be Nominated to the World Heritage List

Bret J. Ruby, PhD
Park Archeologist and Chief of Resource Management at Hopewell Culture National Historical Park

A version of this article was published in the Newark Advocate on March 24, 2021.

Bird’s-eye view of the Hopeton Earthworks, printed in 1809 in the "Port Folio", a monthly review published in New York and Philadelphia. This map is rotated so that east is toward the top of the page.

The Hopeton Earthworks site is one of five earthworks included in Hopewell Culture National Historical Park near Chillicothe, Ohio. These are being nominated alongside three other sites managed by the Ohio History Connection: the Octagon Earthworks and the Great Circle in Licking County; and the Fort Ancient Earthworks in Warren County.

Hopeton was among the first of the great Ohio earthworks to be brought to the attention of a wide audience. A map and letter appeared in 1809 in the Port Folio, a monthly review published in New York and Philadelphia. The map shows two colossal geometric enclosures with earthen walls at least six feet tall—one circular and the other nearly square, joined together as a pair. Wide gateways lead into each side of the square enclosure. Two smaller circles are shown to the east, and two parallel berms form an avenue stretching west almost half a mile toward the Scioto River and the Mound City Group earthworks on the opposite bank.

Squier and Davis provided more details in 1848. They measured the area of the square enclosure as 20 acres, and said its walls were 12 feet tall and 50 feet wide. “They resemble the heavy grading of a railway, and are broad enough, on the top, to admit the passage of a coach.” Imagine the sweat and toil needed to dig and move that much soil without heavy machinery! On top of that, they measured the diameter of the circle as 1050 feet. This is exactly the same diameter as four other Hopewell earthworks, two of which are included in the World Heritage nomination: the High Bank Works located nearly six miles away to the south; and the Octagon Earthworks located nearly 60 miles away to the northeast. Even more, the diagonal of the square is aligned to the summer solstice sunset, and the long parallel avenue points directly toward the winter solstice sunset. These ancient Native Americans had the ability to design and build geometric figures of immense size and astronomical precision, and to replicate them across a vast region using a standard unit of measure. This is certain evidence of sophisticated Indigenous knowledge, planning, and organization: a masterpiece of human creative genius.

Bird’s-eye view of the Hopeton Earthworks, published in 1848 in Ancient Monuments of the Mississippi Valley, by Ephraim Squier and Edwin Davis.

The Hopeton Earthworks suffered from plow damage even in Squier and Davis’ day. But a recent partnership between the National Park Service and the German Archaeological Institute resulted in a high-resolution magnetic scan of the entire site. This survey detected the foundations of the earthen walls, still untouched by the plow. Even more, the magnetometer found evidence of enormous pits that likely held giant wooden posts, spaced at 20 foot intervals around the circumference of the great circular enclosure – a monumental “woodhenge” nearly three-quarters of a mile around. Today we’re using the magnetic map as a guide to mow an accurate pattern in the grass to highlight the earthworks.

The 1809 letter says “There is a melancholy pleasure in contemplating the remains of the works of past ages, and ‘the deeds of other times.’” Today, you can visit the Hopeton Earthworks and contemplate the masterworks of American Indian architects from 2000 years ago. Plan your visit at Things To Do - Hopewell Culture National Historical Park (U.S. National Park Service) (nps.gov)

Bret J. Ruby, PhD, Park Archeologist and Chief of Resource Management

Photo credit: Timothy E. Black

Dr. Bret J. Ruby is an archeologist with the National Park Service, and Chief of Resource Management at Hopewell Culture National Historical Park in Chillicothe, Ohio.