News
Framing Hopewell: A Photo Contest
Masterpieces of human creative genius, the Hopewell Ceremonial Earthworks are gigantic earthen enclosures built by American Indians 2,000 years ago. They were places of ceremony connected to the cosmos by alignments to key risings and settings of the moon and sun. Come and experience these sacred earthworks of the ancient Hopewell culture and gain a new appreciation of the achievements of Ohio’s Indigenous peoples—as well as a deeper connection to the world and our place in it.
Photo by: John Hancock
Photo by: National Park Service/Tom Engberg
Photo by: John Hancock
Photo by: John Hancock
Photo by: NPS
Masterpieces of human creative genius, the Hopewell Ceremonial Earthworks are gigantic earthen enclosures built by American Indians 2,000 years ago. They were places of ceremony connected to the cosmos by alignments to key risings and settings of the moon and sun. Come and experience these sacred earthworks of the ancient Hopewell culture and gain a new appreciation of the achievements of Ohio’s Indigenous peoples—as well as a deeper connection to the world and our place in it.
The Hopewell Ceremonial Earthworks are complex masterpieces of landscape architecture. The huge squares, circles, and octagons, which are geometrically precise and align perfectly with the cycles of the sun and moon, were built by dispersed communities of American Indians who periodically gathered at these special places to worship and stay connected to one another. The earthworks are incredibly big to accommodate those large numbers of people.
Artifacts found at these sites are made from unusual raw materials such as mica from Appalachia, seashells from the Gulf of Mexico, and obsidian from the Rocky Mountains. This shows that people traveled here from the ends of the Hopewell world bringing with them rare and precious gifts. The immense effort this would have required further solidifies these earthworks as centers of human ingenuity.
News
Framing Hopewell: A Photo Contest
Sep
To celebrate our one-year inscription as a UNESCO World Heritage Site, we invite you to join our photo contest, “Framing Hopewell”. This contest intends to highlight the abundant wildlife, natural beauty and people connected to the Hopewell Ceremonial Earthworks World Heritage Site. This site holds profound historical and cultural importance, and we encourage you…
News
Ohio History Connection, Moundbuilders Country Club reach settlement to buy out lease
Aug
COLUMBUS – The Ohio History Connection will open the Octagon Earthworks in Newark for full public access Jan. 1, 2025, after reaching a settlement with Moundbuilders Country Club to buy out its lease on the property. The organizations have agreed to settle for a confidential sum, averting a jury trial in the Licking County…
News
Ancient earthen structures in Ohio become a UNESCO World Heritage Site – CBS Sunday Morning
Feb
The Hopewell Ceremonial Earthworks were featured on CBS Sunday Morning. Hear from Dr. Brad Lepper, senior archaeologist at the Ohio History Connection and Dr. John Low, director of the Newark Earthworks Center and citizen of the Pokagon Band of Potawatomi.
Blog
Road Trippin’ with Truda: Hopewell Ceremonial Earthworks
Jul
Join me as I visit the sites in the Ohio History Connection network! This month’s road trip took me to the Hopewell Ceremonial Earthworks sites in Oregonia, Chillicothe and Newark & Heath. For this month’s road trip, I definitely bit off more than I could chew. There’s a lot of excitement surrounding the recent addition…