ancient monuments of america giant geometric earthwork complexes of the hopewell culture
TRANSCRIPT
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 Earthworks - a cultural resource of national significance.
Hopewell Earthwork Complexes are:
Hopewell Earthworks - a cultural resource of national significance.
Hopewell Earthwork Complexes are:
• Geometrical
Hopewell Earthworks - a cultural resource of national significance.
Hopewell Earthwork Complexes are:
• Geometrical
Hopewell Earthworks - a cultural resource of national significance.
Hopewell Earthwork Complexes are:
• Geometrical
• Precise
Hopewell Earthworks - a cultural resource of national significance.
Hopewell Earthwork Complexes are:
• Geometrical
• Precise
Hopewell Earthworks - a cultural resource of national significance.
Hopewell Earthwork Complexes are:
• Geometrical
• Precise
• Enormous
Hopewell Earthworks - a cultural resource of national significance.
Hopewell Earthwork Complexes are:
• Geometrical
• Precise
• Enormous
Hopewell Earthworks - a cultural resource of national significance.
Hopewell Earthwork Complexes are:
• Geometrical
• Precise
• Enormous
• Astronomically Aligned
Hopewell Earthworks - a cultural resource of national significance.
Hopewell Earthwork Complexes are:
• Geometrical
• Precise
• Enormous
• Astronomically Aligned
Hopewell Earthworks - a cultural resource of national significance.
Hopewell Earthwork Complexes are:
• Geometrical
• Precise
• Enormous
• Astronomically Aligned
• and densely clustered around…
Hopewell Earthworks - a cultural resource of national significance.
Hopewell Earthwork Complexes are:
• 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:
A prehistoric fascination with… GEOMETRYEmbankment walls enclose the perfect shapes of:
circles
A prehistoric fascination with… GEOMETRYEmbankment walls enclose the perfect shapes of:
circles squares
A prehistoric fascination with… GEOMETRYEmbankment walls enclose the perfect shapes of:
circles squares and other polygons
A prehistoric fascination with… GEOMETRYEmbankment walls enclose the perfect shapes of:
circles squares and other polygonsParallel walls form mysterious passageways.
A culture advanced in… MATHEMATICS
A culture advanced in… MATHEMATICS
Precise Measurements and Masterful Engineering
A culture advanced in… MATHEMATICS
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
Engineering on a grand scale
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
What 200 years of plowing will do…
Obliterated
What 200 years of plowing will do…
Still detectable with LiDAR and other modern technologies
Obliterated
What 200 years of plowing will do…
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!