Sue Brooks and Don Karger (above) are studying a Mound City plaque with numerous mounds and an earthen wall visible in the background.  A grid line for archeological work is just visible above Don's right shoulder.

THE HOPEWELL CULTURE
NATIONAL HISTORICAL PARK
Chillicothe, Ohio

The mounds seen in the photo (above) and being excavated by archeologists (lower photo) were constructed by the Hopewell peoples, American Indians who lived between 2,200 and 1,500 years ago.

Those folks walked what we know today as the Scioto River valley before Christ was born.

In fact, their civilization spanned the area from the Great Lakes to the Gulf of Mexico.

The mounds were primarily burial sites and typically were built in stages.  Wooden structures were built there; probably as the scene of funeral ceremonies and other gatherings.  Dead were either cremated or buried on-site.

Objects of copper, stone, shell and bone were placed near the remains.  After many such ceremonies the structure was burned or dismantled and the entire site was covered with a large mound of earth.

This site, originally named Mound City in the 1840s, contained at least 23 mound-like structures surrounded by a low earthen wall.  It was covered by an army training facility during World War I and many of the mounds were destroyed.

Some excavation and restoration work was done in 1920-21 and the site was declared a national monument in 1923.  Additional excavations were done in the 60s and 70s and it became the national park we know today in 1992.

Russ Matz is pondering the archeological dig site currently underway in this historical park.  Since 1,500 years ago only the great mounds and earthworks, like those shown, remained as monuments to the once-flourishing Hopewell world.

www.nps.gov./hocu