Primer of Ohio Archaeology: The Mound Builders and the Indians

by H. C. Shetrone

The Hopewell peoples were not only the most highly advanced in Ohio, but in many respects in the entire country north of Mexico. They are noted for their many mounds, usually occurring in groups, and for the peculiar earthworks or enclosures in groups, earlier in this booklet. These earthworks or enclosures are known as “Geometric Enclosures,” because they are built in geometric forms, such as circles, squares, crescents, and so forth. They differ from the fortifications in that they were used for social and religious purposes rather than for defense. Important examples of Hopewell works are the Hopewell Group, in Ross County; the Mound City Group, within Camp Sherman, Chillicothe; the Seip Group, near Bainbridge, Ross County; the great works at Newark, the Marietta works, and others. The Mound City, the Newark and the Seip Groups are now State Memorials and those at Marietta are preserved by local interests.

THE INSIDE STORY OF A MOUND

Fig. 7—Exploring the Seip Mound, Ross County, Ohio.

No doubt every reader of this booklet would like to take part in the actual “digging” of a mound. This, of course cannot be, since the actual exploration of a large Mound requires months and even years. But perhaps we can do the next best thing; perhaps we can take part in an imaginary examination of a Mound, and in that way get an idea of how it is done and of what is found. Supposing we select a Mound of the interesting Hopewell culture. The Hopewell peoples, as we have seen, were very highly advanced and this fact, therefore, might lead the reader to expect too much of the other cultures, yet if we keep this in mind we will be on the safe side.

Let us imagine that our Mound is located in Ross County, in the charming Paint Creek Valley, somewhere near old Chillicothe, first capital of Ohio and ancient capital of the Mound-builders. Before us stands a mound of earth, 125 feet in diameter at its base and 25 feet in height. The field in which it stands is under cultivation but the mound itself, being too steep for farming purposes, is covered by a thicket of shrubbery and trees. An exploration party has arrived on the scene and is preparing to examine this ancient earthwork.

Workmen with picks and shovels step to the edge of the Mound and begin to dig, throwing the loose earth well behind them. The “boss” explains that the entire mound is to be removed by slicing it off, as a cake might be, in five-foot sections. We note surveying instruments, cameras, notebooks, everything in readiness. Teams and scrapers are waiting to take away the loose earth after it has been carefully examined.

Fig. 8—Burials in the Hopewell Mounds, Ross County, Ohio.

The first of the five-foot slices having been removed there appears, at the level of the surrounding field, what looks like a cement floor. At the outer edge of this and following the curve of the mound we see post holes a foot or two apart in some of which are decayed posts. These post holes prove to the explorer that this Mound was built by the Hopewell peoples. When a Hopewell Culture band or tribe picked a site for a new home, he explains, one of the first things it did was to set aside a place for the burial of its dead and for worship, a sacred place. After clearing this spot of all underbrush and trees, the top-soil was removed and in order to make a firm floor they plastered this over with clay. On top of that was placed an inch or two of sand or fine gravel for a floor-covering. The next step was to secure some posts and set them in the ground around the edge of this area to form a wall. Twigs and branches of trees were woven among these and plastered with clay to keep out cold and rain. A thatched roof made of closely woven twigs and boughs was placed over it and the sacred temple was complete. Into this they brought their dead for funeral ceremonies, burial and cremation.