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Brad Lepper
Guest Columnist
NEWARK Between about AD 1 and 400 the ancient American Indian Hopewell culture built a series of monumental earthen enclosures across southern Ohio.
The largest concentration of these earthworks was along the Scioto River Valley and its tributaries near modern Chillicothe.
The Newark Earthworks is one of the most magnificent of the Hopewell ceremonial centers, but it’s located 60 miles to the north seemingly isolated from the Chillicothe Hopewell heartland. There is, however, compelling evidence to suggest that, far from being isolated, it was linked directly to that heart of the Hopewell world by a major transportation artery.
ROSS COUNTY It s been three years since Ohio s Hopewell Ceremonial Earthworks was proposed as a nomination to become a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
At the time, advocates for the designation were hopeful the decision would be finalized in 2021 but a new update anticipates the verdict will not come for at least another year.
It may not seem like much has been happening to move the designation forward but behind the scenes work from the Ohio History Connection and the National Park Service ensure the application dossier will be completed this summer or possibly by the fall. But with an ever-changing deadline and delays caused by the coronavirus pandemic, they don t anticipate the application will actually be submitted to the World Heritage Committee until early 2022. Then the review won t come until the summer of 2023. As the timeline is not fixed, it could be delayed.
By Mike Ryan, OCJ field reporter
Scattered across southern Ohio are many American Indian archaeological sites of great significance. Taking the form of earthworks, mounds, and effigies, these sites bear witness to the last physical remnants of the Hopewell people, whose culture emerged and thrived in Ohio and other parts of eastern North America from 200 BC to 500 AD, at the beginning of what is called the Middle Woodland period. The moniker Hopewell does not refer to a specific tribe, but rather a culture that is linked through shared artifacts (often found at and in their earthworks) and a shared way of life that developed across the Midwest at the same time.