Alternate Perceptions Magazine, October 2026
The "Original" Hopewell Type Site in Chillicothe, Ohio
By: Dr. Greg Little
“Hopewell Culture” refers to certain types of mounds, earthworks, and cultural artifacts made by Native Americans more than ~2,000-1600 years ago in many areas of the Eastern half of the US. The typical dates given for Hopewell sites is 100 B.C. to A.D. 500, but there were some sites earlier and later as well as regional variations. The Hopewell made intricate and massive geometric earthworks, linear and conical mounds, effigy mounds, and unique walkways/pathways connecting sites that were generally 150-160 feet wide. On both sides of the pathways were walls of earth to enclose the paths, and at least one of these ran some 56 miles. The Newark, Ohio Earthworks and Portsmouth, Ohio Earthworks are the most extensive Hopewell complexes known. The original Hopewell site that gave the culture its name is also in Ohio.
The name "Hopewell" has been applied to mound & earthwork sites with similar construction dates and characteristics (artifacts & burial customs) found at the original Hopewell site, which was named after the landowner when it was excavated. At least a decade after the Civil War, Mordecai Hopewell, a former private in the Confederate Virginia Militia, obtained farmland a few miles NW of Chillicothe, Ohio. Mordecai Hopewell is often referred to as "Captain" or occasionally Colonel, but those were essentially honorary terms. On the farm was a massive complex of at least 40 mounds and nearly 3 miles of earthworks forming a 16-acre square, a circular embankment, a D-shaped enclosure, and a semi-rectangular enclosure with roughly 111 acres enclosed by outer earthwork walls. The survey from Squier & Davis is below. [The name “Hopewell” is derived from a small village in England called "Hopwell," which meant a small valley with a water source.]
The Chillicothe Hopewell complex was first surveyed by Caleb Atwater in 1820 and later by Squier & Davis around 1846. At that time the site was called "Clark's Works" or the "North Fork Works." When Hopewell obtained the farm, it became known as Hopewell Farm.
In September 1, 1891, through 1892 Warren K. Moorhead excavated at the site to collect artifacts for display at the Chicago World's Columbian Exposition (often called the “Chicago World’s Fair”) held in 1893. Moorehead simply asked the owner for permission, which was granted immediately as the mounds and earthworks impeded farming. While Moorehead is called the "Dean of American Archaeology," he often looted mound sites, with, or occasionally without, permission, selling human bones from mounds and pieces of pottery through the mail for a quarter. He was hired by many museums and state historical societies to gather artifacts, but he issued brochures and small booklets offering to sell artifacts to collectors. There is a curious article about Moorehead trying to secretly loot a site along the Susquehanna River in Pennsylvania issued by a New York Museum. Moorehead's letters to the Smithsonian offering to sell artifacts clearly show his motives.
In 1922 to the end of 1925, Henry Shetrone excavated at the site, again, with permission from the Hopewell family. Shetrone worked for the Ohio State Archaeological and Historical Society. During all that time until 1980 the site was cultivated year after year. The mounds and earthworks were gradually obliterated by the excavations and yearly plowing leading to the actual locations of the many features at the site becoming unknown. It wasn’t until 1980 that the mound locations and earthwork locations were clearly identified through aerial survey and careful ground analysis. This was accomplished after the Archaeological Conservancy purchased 120 acres of the complex in 1980 to stop further destruction. The only portion that was still visible in the 1980s was the “eastern wall.” In 1992, the National Park Service obtained the site from the Archaeological Conservancy.
In the early 2000’s a magnetometer survey was made at the site by the National Park Service and a 7-foot-wide, 145-foot-long trench was dug through the remaining eastern wall. Today, the site is a public park and the National Park Service uses “interpretive mowing” and landscaping to make the layout somewhat visible. But the site was essentially obliterated by the excavations and farming and it is really difficult for visitors to comprehend any part of the complex.
The many excavations at the massive complex yielded over 100 elite burials with tens of thousands of artifacts made from materials that came from wide areas of North America. Most of the burials were found in large, log-lined tombs and accompanied with copper breastplates, axes, bracelets, earspools, blades, exquisite pipes, and headdresses. The copper came from the Lake Superior area. Obsidian artifacts from Wyoming were found as well as whelk shells from the Gulf, shark teeth from the Atlantic, and pipestone.
