UC project puts Midwest mounds back on the map

More than 10 years ago, University of Cincinnati researcher John Hancock, professor of architecture in UC's top-ranked College of Design, Architecture, Art, and Planning (DAAP), began an ambitious, complex project using modern technology to electronically rebuild lost or damaged Native American monuments that once rivaled Stonehenge in their astronomical accuracy.

That electronic rebuilding project, known as EarthWorks, is now traveling museums across the Midwest – an area where, once, thousands of mounds and earthworks were built by Native American cultures in the form of geometric shapes, ringed hilltops or animal effigies (think Ohio's Serpent Mound or Fort Ancient).

EarthWorks and its success are now leading to Hancock's next project – the Ancient Ohio Trail. It's a project that grew directly from Hancock's own experiences in traveling the region to locate and study both fully extant as well as partial remnants of ancient earthworks left by the Adena, Hopewell and Fort Ancient cultures.

"In working on EarthWorks, I had a lot of fun tromping around the hills and valleys to find the earthworks or their ruins. There's hardly anything more thrilling than that. I wanted to share that feet-on-the-ground experience. That's how the Ancient Ohio Trail project began. It seemed that with what our team knew about their locations, conditions and a lot of history, and even the most scenic routes to get to them…and the best bed-and-breakfasts to stay in, we could create a 'heritage tourism' experience right here that was as rich and interesting as any in Europe!" he said.

With help from a team in UC's nationally ranked School of Architecture and Interior Design, Hancock is paving the way for others to follow in his exploratory footsteps via the just-launched Ancient Ohio Trail Web site.

Currently, the site contains

• Itineraries and directions leading to 50 fully extant or partial remnants of earthworks in southern and central Ohio.
• Directions on the most scenic routes to travel in order to arrive at these earthworks.
• Places to eat and stay while exploring the earthworks.
• Photos and descriptions about the construction and purpose of each site.

Hancock and his team plan to continue adding features to the site. In the future, they plan to add audio and video tours as well as other information that users will be able to download to a cell phone, laptop or other electronic device when actually at a specific earthwork site.

Some of the earthwork locations featured in the Ohio Virtual Heritage Trail Web site's directions, itineraries, routes and images are

• Fort Ancient in Warren County, Ohio, is the largest and best preserved prehistoric hilltop enclosure in the country. Overlooking the Little Miami River Valley, some of the walls rise as high as two-story buildings.

• Great Circle Earthwork in Newark, Ohio, is still extant and measures 1,200 feet across and 15-feet high.

• Hopewell Mound Group in Ross County, Ohio, is the site of the most spectacular artifact finds from any of the Ohio Valley's ancient sites. Using remote-sensing instruments, a new circle was discovered here in summer 2001. (Ancient Ohio Trail online information helps visitors find the best surviving, visible features among these mounds.)

• Mound City, part of Hopewell Culture National Historical Park, contains several spectacular geometric earthwork sites in Ross County, Ohio.

• Octagon Earthworks in Newark, Ohio, is a nearly perfect circle measuring 1,050 feet across and connected to a 610-foot-long octagon and to Observatory Mound, a high, flat-topped mound built against the outer rim of the circle. (These connected works are still extant. Observatory Circle also once connected to a 930-foot-long square and to a 1,800-foot-long ellipse containing 12 burial mounds. The square and ellipse have been lost to development.

• Seip Earthworks in Ross County, Ohio, once held elaborate tombs. The central mound is physically restored on the site while segments of the huge geometric enclosure remain.

• Serpent Mound in Adams County, Ohio, is a 1,360-foot-long snake effigy dating from about 1070 A.D. Its head points to the sunset on the longest day of the year, the summer solstice, and modern archaeologists report that the center lines of its coils point to extreme northern rising points of the sun and moon. Effigies such as Serpent Mound may have been meant to be seen by the stars or the sun as a means of linking earth with the heavens.

• SunWatch Village in Dayton, Ohio, contains reconstructed houses and poles illustrating the way the Fort Ancient-era peoples kept a calendar to aid with rituals and planting.

• Wright Earthworks in Newark, Ohio, once measured 740 by 760 feet. Only a tiny corner is preserved.

A consortium of organizations has come together to assist Hancock and UC with developing the Ancient Ohio Trail. The organizations involved include

• Center for the Reconstruction of Historical and Archaeological Sites at UC
• Hopewell Culture National Historical Park in Chillicothe, Ohio
• Licking County Convention and Visitors Bureau
• Ohio Historical Society
• Ohio State University's Newark Earthworks Center in Newark, Ohio
• Ross County Convention and Visitors Bureau
• Warren County Convention and Visitors Bureau

"In terms of tourism and economic development, we have a unique resource in the form of these rare and endangered earthworks. There's an appreciation for them that extends far beyond the Midwest. Indeed, growing numbers of 'heritage tourists,' including Europeans and Asians, actively seek out such destinations for travel and education. We want to make that both easier and more educational for both local and international travelers," explained Hancock.