Newark Earthworks photograph   Save
Ohio History Connection - Property Files
Description: The Newark Earthworks were built by the Hopewell people between 100 B.C.E. and A.D. 400. The Newark Earthworks are the largest set of geometric earthen enclosures in the world. In The Seventy Wonders of the Ancient World (1999), Cambridge University archeologist, Chris Scarre named the Newark Earthworks as one of only three North American sites that qualified as an ancient wonder. (The others are Chaco Canyon in New Mexico and Cahokia in Illinois.) Compared with other ancient wonders, the Newark earthworks are colossal. The Newark Earthworks were the largest set of geometric earthworks ever built in Ohio. They were constructed by the Hopewell culture (100 B.C. to 500 A.D.) of prehistoric Native American people. Originally it included a great circular enclosure (the Great Circle Earthworks), another slightly smaller circle that was linked to an octagon (Octagon Earthworks), and a large, nearly perfect square enclosure (Wright Earthworks). In addition an oval earthwork surrounded a dozen conical and loaf-shaped mounds. All of these structures were connected by a series of parallel walls. There were many smaller circular enclosures and a scattering of other mounds and pits. On the opposite bank of the Licking River's South Fork, another square enclosure and an oval earthwork encircled the top of a hill that overlooked the vast maze of geometric enclosures. In 2006, Governor Bob Taft formally declared the Newark Earthworks to be Ohio's state prehistoric monument, honoring the early American Indian builders of this site. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: AL06600
Subjects: Hopewell Culture (A.D. 1–400); Mound-builders--Ohio; Archaeology--United States--History; Ohio state symbols
Places: Granville (Ohio); Licking County (Ohio)