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Ohio inventions and firsts · Achievement · 2023

Hopewell Ceremonial Earthworks UNESCO World Heritage Site

Eight Hopewell earthwork complexes in southern Ohio, built about 1-400 CE, were inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site on September 19, 2023 (the 25th U.S. site); the NPS and Ohio History Connection manage them.

At a glance

Year
2023
Place
Chillicothe / Newark / Hopeton, Ross (sites also in Licking, Warren and elsewhere; only Licking verified) County ZIP 45601

The story

About 2,000 years ago, people of the Hopewell tradition in what is now southern Ohio built huge geometric earthworks: circles, squares and an octagon, some covering many acres. They are not forts. They were ceremonial and burial places, and the builders were hunter-gatherers.

Eight of these sites were named a UNESCO World Heritage Site on September 19, 2023, the 25th in the United States. They are the Octagon Earthworks and Great Circle Earthworks in Newark, Hopeton Earthworks and Mound City near Chillicothe, High Bank Works, Hopewell Mound Group, Seip Earthworks, and Fort Ancient at Oregonia.

The sites show careful knowledge of astronomy. The Octagon, for example, was built with precision, probably to line up with several solar and lunar events.

The National Park Service looks after most sites through Hopewell Culture National Historical Park at Chillicothe, and the Ohio History Connection manages the Newark earthworks and Fort Ancient.

Timeline

  • 1-400 CE: The Hopewell tradition builds the eight earthworks. (southern Ohio) source
  • 1992: Mound City Group National Monument is expanded and renamed Hopewell Culture National Historical Park. (Chillicothe, OH) source
  • 2006: The Newark Earthworks are named Ohio's official prehistoric monument. (Newark, OH) source
  • 2023-09-19: UNESCO inscribes the Hopewell Ceremonial Earthworks as a World Heritage Site. source

What it changed

  • The 25th UNESCO World Heritage Site in the United States.
  • Eight earthwork complexes were protected as one site.

Why it matters

Ohio's first UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Worth knowing

The UNESCO inscription came in September 2023, not July as some accounts say.

Places in Ohio to see

Further reading

Sources

Confidence. Medium: the main facts were confirmed, but some details (often an address or ZIP code) were not.