Baum Village and Works
Baum Works · Baum Earthwork Village
Middle Woodland Hopewell (50 BCE–350 CE)·Hopewell (Baum phase)·🇺🇸 Ohio, Ross County, United States
About
About Baum Village and Works
Hopewell rectangular enclosure (120×110 m, 1.3 ha) with habitation village overlapping embankments atPaint Creek terrace—rare instance where Hopewell domestic occupation directly associated with geometric earthwork. Stockaded village produced shell-tempered pottery, copper earspools, freshwater mussel beads; enclosure ditch interior, embankment 1 m high. Mills excavation 1906 found 59 burials with platform pipes. Adjacent Baum Works earthwork square-circle (Squier plate) plowed but ditch cropmarks persist. Phase name 'Baum Village phase' defines Hopewell settlements 50 BCE–300 CE.
Why it mattersNamesake for Baum phase; definitive proof that some Hopewell enclosures were inhabited not purely ceremonial.
Open questions
Mysteries & theories
Mysteries
- 01Why village built inside then outside enclosure
- 02Entry gateway astronomical alignment
Theories
- 01Elite lineage compound where ritual and dwelling merged
- 02Seasonal ceremonial village for pilgrimage feasting
Theories are interpretations, not findings. The seal above tells you how much scholarly weight the place carries.
History
How it came to be
- Built
- c.100 BCE–100 CE
- Period
- Middle Woodland Hopewell (50 BCE–350 CE)
- Culture
- Hopewell (Baum phase)
- Purpose
- Habitation village ceremonially enclosed; mortuary precinct
- Excavation
- Excavated
c.100 BCE–100 CE
Initial construction
c. 1479 CE
Major expansion
On the ground
Structures & features
39.3492° N · 83.1344° W · 206 m · 2 mapped features
Rectangular Enclosure Ditch
earthwork120×110 m Hopewell square, 1 m bank, interior ditch
39.3493° N · 83.1343° WBaum Village midden concentration
middenDense domestic midden with 59 burials excavated by Mills
39.3490° N · 83.1347° W
Gallery