It is not everyday that one gets a chance to hike on a UNESCO World Heritage Site. These sites are recognized by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization – UNESCO – as natural and cultural places that are considered to be of outstanding value to humanity. There are 1223 sites recognized worldwide, and 26 in the United States. The list includes well known landmarks such as Stonehenge, The Great Wall of China, and the Pyramids.
The Hopewell Ceremonial Earthworks, which stretch in an arc across lower Ohio, were added to the list of UNESCO World Heritage Sites in September of 2023. In addition to Fort Ancient there are five earthworks near Chillicothe and two near Newark. Together these eight sites make up the Hopewell Ceremonial Earthworks, the only UNESCO site in Ohio. In their declaration UNESCO described the sites using these phrases: “eight masterpieces of human creative genius”, “complex landscape architectural masterpieces”, and “huge squares, circles, and octagons, which are geometrically precise and align perfectly with the cycles of the sun and moon”.
These eight earthworks were built two thousand years ago by the Hopewell culture during the Woodland Period. The label “Hopewell” was termed in the 1890’s when artifacts from the culture were first studied on the farm of Captain Mordecai Hopewell in Ross County, Ohio. The Hopewell peoples left the area between 500 – 600 AD. The reasons for their departure are unclear but theories include climate change, resource depletion, warfare, and possibly disease. The sites were largely vacant for approximately five hundred years until the Fort Ancient indigenous peoples populated the area, and this ridgetop in particular, from about 1000 AD to 1750 AD, during the Late Prehistoric Period. Originally the building of this earthworks was attributed to the Fort Ancient peoples, but further study revealed that they repopulated the previously completed structure that had been abandoned.
The 768 acre Fort Ancient Earthworks and Nature Preserve is home to the largest hilltop earthworks enclosure in North America, totaling 126 acres. Despite the word “Fort” in the name, it is now felt that the structure was not a defensive position, but rather a ceremonial meeting place that was visited by pilgrimages of Hopewell affiliated native peoples from across North America.
As noted in the title image, the earthworks structure is irregular, mirroring the narrow ridge top that has steep hillsides down to the Little Miami River Valley. The earthworks are fragmented with many gaps or entry portals, again suggesting that it was not a fort or defensive structure. The earthwork mounds range from 4 to 23 feet in height.
We started our outing on the one third mile long Stone Circle Trail which is in orange on the map below.
The trail enters a mature wood with an open understory.
On this trail we got our first sighting of the ribbon-like series of mounds that comprise the earthworks wall. Signage told us that the two stone circles, for which the trail was named, laid at the base of the earthen mounds but they were not obvious to the naked eye. They are covered with forest humus but their presence has been documented with ground penetrating radar. It is believed that the limestone circles, which measured 8 and 16 feet, were for religious services.
Breaks in the mounds are gateway passages that allow entry into the enclosed area and can be seen in the photo below.
Also seen was a stone capped mound. In 1908 it had been excavated by the Curator of Archeology for the Ohio Archeological and Historical Society. Limited findings included small amounts of mica which is a crystalline substance used in ceremonies, some bits of bone, and a rectangular ash pit. Following the excavation the mound was restored. Unfortunately sometime between 1908 and the 1990s it was unprofessionally excavated and left in a state of disrepair. It was reconstructed in the past decade by a graduate student at a regional university.
This sign intrigued me. There were no other identified plants and I was not familiar with a plant named “Sugar Bush”
Apparently the indigenous peoples had a term that translated into “Sugar Bush” and it was used to designate a collection of Sugar Maples that were tapped annually for the production of maple syrup. Native Americans taught the colonists how to make maple syrup as it was not done in the old world, and colonists continued to use the term “Sugar Bush”. Certainly Sugar Maples were a key component of this wood, including the towering specimen seen in the photo below. It is rare to find a Sugar Maple of this height. The straight, branchless trunk tells me that it grew in a mature wood.
After completion of this short hike we headed to the Earthworks Trail which is on the southern aspect of the campus and appears light blue on the earlier map. Along the way, in the center of enclosure, we saw an isolated mound that was part of the astrological marker for Fort Ancient, as an alignment between it, a nearby stone circle, and two gateway passages in the earthworks marked the position of the sunrise for both the summer and winter solstices – a tie to the cosmos mentioned earlier.
The Earthworks Trail brings the hiker into closer proximity to the earthworks. The mounds were in a mature wood to our left and there was meadow to our right.
Along the path are numerous interpretive signs that helps one understand the history of the earthworks.
At two locations along the route overlooks have been constructed allowing one to look out upon the Little Miami River Valley.
The South Overlook and view –
The view from the North Overlook is expansive, with the I-75 Jeremiah Morrow Bridge noted 1.75 miles away. The property of the preserve extends to the bridge.
It was better appreciated with the telephoto lens.
One characteristic of the earthworks was the presence of centuries old trees atop them. The architecture of these massive trees would make Fort Ancient an excellent hike on a winter day when the structure of the trees could be more easily seen.
While most of the time the trail was in or on the edge of a mature forest, there was a stretch where we took a bridge over a significant ravine,
and we ended up in a much younger woodland, leading one to believe that this area had been used for something else in the past.
We later found a historical marker noting that the Civilian Conservation Corp had set up a camp within the earthworks during the depression of the 1930s. Perhaps that is why this area had a younger forest.
No Footpaths essay would be complete without some photos of interesting things we saw along our way. These Gray Dogwood berries took on the appearance of raisins due to the drought.
The amount of pollen on this Honey Bee that was visiting a Goldenrod is striking.
Lastly, I found this White Mitrata Spider on my walking stick. It is from the “Orb Spider Family”. Orb spiders are those that weave webs, and of course I use my walking stick to take down the webs that cross the trail as we make our way through the wood. Undoubtedly that is how it ended up on my stick. It is described as “small but very aggressive”. It is venomous to other insects, biting those caught in its web, injecting digestive enzymes into the prey. These enzymes breakdown the internal tissues, and then the Mitrata feeds on the liquefied remains. The females, at times, practice “sexual cannibalism”, feeding on their mate after consummation. It is not a danger to humans. Although they are described as “common” we have never identified one closeup.
In summary, Fort Ancient Earthworks and Nature Preserve is a worthwhile venue. Its recent inclusion on the UNESCO World Heritage Site List validates the value of this site and the others that make up the Hopewell Ceremonial Earthworks. Researching for this article, I realized that there is much more to learn and many more sites to visit to truly understand the prehistoric past of the Ohio Valley region. I’m looking forward to engaging our middle daughter Ellen on this endeavor as the history of indigenous peoples is a true passion for her. I think that many mid-westerners, myself included, overlook the prehistoric populations of our own region as we study those from other parts of the country in our travels, particularly of the American west. There is so much to see and learn, and so little time.
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Photo credits to Peggy Juengling Burns.
Overview:
Location – 6123 OH-350, Oregonia, Ohio, 35 miles northeast of downtown Cincinnati.
Parking – asphalt lots at several sites.
Facilities – at the on site museum and at the picnic shelters.
Trail Conditions – bare dirt. Generally flat on the trails we took.
Print Trail Map Link – none. A map is available in the museum. There is a small charge to hike the venue and an additional fee to tour the museum.
Benches – yes
Picnic Tables – many throughout the park.
Kids – Kids 4 and over will do well on the trail.
Dogs – welcomed on a leash.
Paired Hiking Trails – there are three other trails but we did not hike them. The Terrace Trail was closed due to storm/tree damage. The Mound Trail sounds inviting as it takes you through a shaded wood to some isolated mounds.
Links:
https://www.ohiohistory.org/visit/browse-historical-sites/fort-ancient-earthworks/
Here is the link to the UNESCO site: https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/1689/