Hopeton Earthworks: Cultural Landscape Inventory, Hopewell Culture National Historical Park, National Park Service

Hopewell Culture National Historical Park is located in Ross County, near the town of Chillicothe in south-central Ohio. The 292-acre Hopeton Earthworks is one of the park’s five noncontiguous mound sites. The site is located on a terrace east of the Scioto River and is fairly flat and open, with elevation increasing slightly away from the river. An early growth hardwood forest and a black walnut orchard stand near an intermittent creek at the southeast corner of the site. Much of the land was formerly used for agricultural production but is now fallow. According to the park’s General Management Plan, the gravel mining operation that lies adjacent to the site has stripped much of the area west of the principal earthworks, and the privately-run mining operation will continue until the gravel deposit has been exhausted. The Hopeton Earthworks site was designated as a National Historic Landmark on July 19, 1964 and entered into the National Register the following year. The landscape has a period of significance that corresponds to the time Hopewell culture was present in the Ohio Valley, 200 B.C to 500 A.D. The site represents one of the few Hopewellian earth constructions with traces of both circular and rectangular earthworks, together with a causeway of parallel earth walls and mounds. The landscape exemplifies a particular type and period of construction, and is also significant for having yielded prehistoric information. The earthworks became part of the Hopewell Culture National Historical Park when congressional legislation established the park in 1992. “The term Hopewell describes a broad network of beliefs and practices among different Native American groups over a large portion of eastern North America. The culture is characterized by the construction of enclosures made of earthen walls, often built in geometric patterns, and mounds of various shapes” (MWRO Inventory Program). The Hopewell culture is also characterized by extensive trade networks and use of waterways to import goods from locations as distant as the Rocky Mountains and parts of the Atlantic coast. These mounds and earthworks were constructed to facilitate a variety of economic, social, and ceremonial functions in the Hopewell communities. Although no known written records were left to document this period, archeological remnants and knowledge of other Native American cultures contribute to an understanding of the Hopewellian people. Evidence suggests that the Hopewell culture was characterized by complex social, political, and religious systems along with a high degree of specialization. The presence of the earthworks is significant because it reflects the existence of a stable society capable of major, united efforts in construction and of establishing a network of contacts with other peoples. It also represents a critical period in the development of an agricultural lifestyle. The visible features of Hopeton Earthworks have been significantly altered by later periods of agricultural cultivation and land development. After the Hopewell culture declined, other native groups occupied this site. Early Euro-American settlers saw the mounds as obstacles to their own agricultural efforts and thought little of plowing through them. Many of the mounds and earthworks have thus disappeared under the currents of changing land use, expanding development, and archeological looting and investigation. Later structures have been removed, although some remnants and foundations remain. The railroad, bordering the site to the east, has also impacted the area’s character. Buildings, roadways, and the gravel quarry have caused further changes. Still, the overall layout of the earthworks and archeological integrity remain largely intact, and the design, location, and historical associations of the landscape continue to help convey aspects of Hopewell culture.

Hopeton Earthworks: Cultural Landscape Inventory, Hopewell Culture National Historical Park, National Park Service

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