HOPEWELL CIRCLES

Apr 15, 2025

Much of North America was once covered with ceremonial earthworks created by Indigenous peoples like the Hopewell culture. They had up to 10,000 mounds just in Ohio before European settlers arrived. The Great Circle Earthworks near Newark consisted of earthen circles, squares, and an octagon figure, all covering 5 square miles. First reported by settlers in 1800, the site might have served as a center of philosophical or religious inspiration, since tribute items seem to have flowed into the area but not out of it. Hopewell ceremonial culture could have been similar to one of the large religions of today, with churches in many places sharing more or less the same philosophical message, modified locally as needed. Farmers leveled many of the structures of the Great Circle Earthworks, and railroads used the heaped-earth burial mounds as a handy source of fill for their train tracks. The few remaining mounds are now part of a UNESCO World Heritage Site.