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(Courtesy of Ohio History Connection)
The Hopewell Mound Group includes more than thirty mounds. The site is composed of a large, roughly rectangular earthen embankment enclosing 111 acres. Within it are mounds and two smaller enclosures. One of the enclosures is a three-quarter circular shape enclosing seven mounds. Three of these are connected to form what is estimated to be the largest known Hopewell mound, originally measuring 500 feet by 180 feet and 30 feet high. The other enclosure is circular with a single opening. The large embankment walls have been calculated to have once risen 6 feet with a 35-foot base. The east wall of the enclosure opens into a smaller square, 10-acre enclosure. The square’s earthen walls were each 850 feet long with openings centered on each side and at the northeast and southeast corners. Mounds are located 50 feet inside the square at each of the centered openings. The opening connecting the square to the larger enclosure was twice as wide as the other openings in the square. Portions of embankment of the main enclosure are visible along with several of the mounds.
References
“Hopewell Culture, National Historical Park, Ohio.” National Park Service. Accessed November 20, 2018. https://www.nps.gov/.
Lepper, Bradley T. “Archaeology of the Hopewell Culture.” In Encyclopedia of Global Archaeology, edited by Claire Smith. New York: Springer New York, 2013.
Lepper, Bradley T. Ohio Archaeology: an illustrated chronicle of Ohio's ancient American Indian cultures. Wilmington, OH: Orange Frazer Press, 2005.
Lynott, Mark J. Hopewell Ceremonial Landscapes of Ohio, More than Mounds and Geometric Earthworks. American Landscapes Series. Havertown, PA: Oxbow Books, 2015.
Squier, Ephraim G., and Davis, Edwin H. Ancient Monuments of the Mississippi Valley.1848. Reprint, Washington D.C.: Smithsonian Institution Press, 1998.
Weiss, Francine, “Hopeton Earthworks,” Ross County, Ohio. National Historic Landmark Nomination Form, 1975. National Park Service, U.S. Department of the Interior, Washington, DC.
Weiss, Francine, “Mound City Group National Monument,” Ross County, Ohio. National Historic Landmark Nomination Form, 1975. National Park Service, U.S. Department of the Interior, Washington, DC.