| Label | Information |
|---|---|
| Dates & times |
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| Category | |
| Age Groups | Adult Lifelong Learning |
ALL - Adult Lifelong Learning
*** Program registration and payment required ***
The Hopewell Ceremonial Earthworks: A UNESCO World Heritage Site
Tuesday, March 5 at 10:00 am
The Hopewell Ceremonial Earthworks are eight monumental earthen enclosures in southern Ohio that were added to the UNESCO World Heritage List in 2023. They include the Great Circle and Octagon Earthworks in Licking County, and the Fort Ancient Earthworks in Warren County. These three sites are managed by the Ohio History Connection. The other five sites are located in Ross County and include the Mound City Group, Hopewell Mound Group, Hopeton Earthworks, Seip Earthworks, and High Bank Works. They comprise Hopewell Culture National Historical Park and are managed by the National Park Service. Together these eight earthworks tell the story of the ancient Indigenous Hopewell culture centered in southern Ohio between about AD 1 and 400. These amazing enclosures and mounds provide evidence for a sophisticated knowledge of geometry and astronomy.
Ancient American Indian pilgrims came to these sites from across much of North America bearing offerings of extraordinary raw materials that Hopewell artisans crafted into magnificent ceremonial regalia. Contemporary American Indians still regard these earthworks as sacred places. Learn more about the history of these sites and why they deserve the honor of being inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List.
This 1hr course is led by:
Brad Lepper, the Senior Archeologist for the Ohio History Connection’s World Heritage Program and a Visiting Assistant Professor in the Department of Anthropology at Denison University. He is the author of Ohio Archaeology: An Illustrated Chronicle of Ohio's Ancient American Indian Cultures, published in 2005 by Orange Frazer Press, Wilmington, Ohio, which received the Society for American Archaeology's Public Audience Book Award. His research has encompassed more than 14,000 years of Ohio’s Indigenous history but has been focused on the monumental earthworks of the Hopewell culture.
For more information and a complete course list visit https://marionlibrary.org/all.