Hopewell Culture National Historical Park (Mound City Group)
Mound City Group · Hopewell Culture NHP
Hopewell 1–500 CE (Middle Woodland, peak 100–400 CE)·Hopewell tradition (Scioto Hopewell)·🇺🇸 Ohio, United States
About
About Hopewell Culture National Historical Park (Mound City Group)
Finest Hopewell enclosure: 13-acre (5.3 ha) flat-topped earthen-walled enclosure (1,211 m perimeter, 1–1.8 m high) near Scioto River enclosing 24 conical, elongated and effigy mounds. Excavated 1920–21 by Mills & Shetrone revealing mica-sheet graves, pearl beds, copper breastplates, obsidian bifaces and effigy pipes. Core component of UNESCO World Heritage Hopewell Ceremonial Earthworks inscribed 2023 (criterion i, iii).
Why it mattersType-site for Hopewell Interaction Sphere; source of iconic Hopewell art (mica, copper, effigy pipes) proving 2,000 km exchange.
Open questions
Mysteries & theories
Mysteries
- 01Why Hopewell geometric enclosures occupy river terraces with astronomical alignment
- 02Purpose of mortuary ‘killed’ artifacts (deliberately broken copper)
Theories
- 01Pilgrimage center drawing participants from Great Lakes to Gulf for mortuary ceremony
- 02Geometric earthworks as cosmological maps – squares to earth, circles to sky
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–500 CE; Mound City enclosure c.1–250 CE
- Period
- Hopewell 1–500 CE (Middle Woodland, peak 100–400 CE)
- Culture
- Hopewell tradition (Scioto Hopewell)
- Purpose
- Geometric ceremonial enclosure and charnel-house cemetery for mortuary ritual and interregional exchange
- Excavation
- Excavated
c.100 BCE–500 CE; Mound City enclosure c.1–250 CE
Initial construction
c. 1077 CE
Major expansion
On the ground
Structures & features
39.3808° N · 83.0045° W · 199 m · 3 mapped features
Mound 7 – Great Mound (central)
moundLargest conical mound, 20 m diameter, mica grave
39.3808° N · 83.0046° WMound 13 – Effigy Platform Mound
moundLow rectangular platform with crematory basin
39.3811° N · 83.0040° WEarthwork enclosure wall SW gateway
earthworkOriginal gated entrance in earthen wall
39.3800° N · 83.0052° W
Gallery