Makenna Curtis-Collins, 10, above, ponders a nice graphic display within the visitor center at the earthwork mound site in Newark. In the small photo lower right Grandma Sue Brooks, left, Makenna and Patsy Love, Sue’s sister, help show the scale of the mound construction while bottom right, Makenna adds some perspective to the moat dig along the inside wall of the circular mound.
HALLOWED GROUND—
and a golf course
Nearly 2,000 years ago the Hopewell culture built what is now known as The Great Circle Earthworks in Newark, OH.
The Great Circle is one part of the Newark Earthworks State memorial, the largest system of connected geometric earthworks built anywhere in the world.
The earthworks cover several square miles. The mounds range in height from 3 to 14 feet and
include an octagon large enough to hold four Roman ‘Colosseums’. Two parallel mounds connect it to a circle that encloses 20 acres and their construction required decades of labor according to a November 2005 article in the New York Times.
The mounds’ purpose remained a mystery until 1982 when it was discovered they (the mounds) aligned perfectly with part of the lunar cycle. Modern measurements show the Newark site is more precisely constructed than the lunar observatory at Stonehenge.
In fact, Stonehenge could fit inside the mounds’ aligning circle, one of the smaller geometric shapes at the Newark site.
The Newark Great Circle has a diameter of some 1,180 feet and its interior is lined with a 5 foot
deep moat.
The circle also was used as a vast ceremonial center by its builders and was the spiritual center of the Hopewell’s far-flung empire.
Archaeoastronomy research has demonstrated advanced scientific understanding by the prehistoric cultures responsible for these creations. While pondering the depth of this ancient knowledge I wondered why, some 500 years later Christopher and his pals, left the “advanced” civilization of Europe and worried about sailing off the end of the Earth.
Meanwhile, today the Moundbuilders Country Club of Newark blankets a large segment of this ancient site. The golf club has leased the site since 1933 where members today whack golf balls hither and yon over land once hallowed to an ancient civilization.
“Playing golf on a Native American spiritual site is a fundamental desecration,” said Richard Shiels, a history professor at OSU’s Newark Campus, in the Times article.
Fogeyisms agrees.
__________________
Interested in your own visit? Here’s some handy information: http://ohsweb.ohiohistory.org/places/c08/greatcircle.shtml
References:
Ohio Indian Mounds: Hallowed Ground and a Nice Par 3 by Christopher Maag, the New York Times, November 28, 2005.
www.stateparks.com/moundbuilders.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Newark,_Ohio
HALLOWED GROUND—
and a golf course
Nearly 2,000 years ago the Hopewell culture built what is now known as The Great Circle Earthworks in Newark, OH.
The Great Circle is one part of the Newark Earthworks State memorial, the largest system of connected geometric earthworks built anywhere in the world.
The earthworks cover several square miles. The mounds range in height from 3 to 14 feet and
include an octagon large enough to hold four Roman ‘Colosseums’. Two parallel mounds connect it to a circle that encloses 20 acres and their construction required decades of labor according to a November 2005 article in the New York Times.The mounds’ purpose remained a mystery until 1982 when it was discovered they (the mounds) aligned perfectly with part of the lunar cycle. Modern measurements show the Newark site is more precisely constructed than the lunar observatory at Stonehenge.
In fact, Stonehenge could fit inside the mounds’ aligning circle, one of the smaller geometric shapes at the Newark site.
The Newark Great Circle has a diameter of some 1,180 feet and its interior is lined with a 5 foot
deep moat.The circle also was used as a vast ceremonial center by its builders and was the spiritual center of the Hopewell’s far-flung empire.
Archaeoastronomy research has demonstrated advanced scientific understanding by the prehistoric cultures responsible for these creations. While pondering the depth of this ancient knowledge I wondered why, some 500 years later Christopher and his pals, left the “advanced” civilization of Europe and worried about sailing off the end of the Earth.
Meanwhile, today the Moundbuilders Country Club of Newark blankets a large segment of this ancient site. The golf club has leased the site since 1933 where members today whack golf balls hither and yon over land once hallowed to an ancient civilization.
“Playing golf on a Native American spiritual site is a fundamental desecration,” said Richard Shiels, a history professor at OSU’s Newark Campus, in the Times article.
Fogeyisms agrees.
__________________
Interested in your own visit? Here’s some handy information: http://ohsweb.ohiohistory.org/places/c08/greatcircle.shtml
References:
Ohio Indian Mounds: Hallowed Ground and a Nice Par 3 by Christopher Maag, the New York Times, November 28, 2005.
www.stateparks.com/moundbuilders.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Newark,_Ohio
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