Description: This pipe in effigy (a likeness or representation) of a black bear was excavated from Tremper Mound, a Hopewell culture site located five miles north of Portsmouth in Scioto County. Only the front quarters of the bear are represented. Eyes are drilled and inset with copper. Ears extend from head. Some parts of the pipe have been damaged and other parts have been restored. Made of light olive gray stone, the pipe measures approximately 1.87" x 1.4" x 3.33" (4.8 x 3.6 x 8.5 cm). This pipe is part of a large collection of pipes found at Tremper Mound. The pipes were carved of Ohio pipestone, a silica-based material that can be easily carved when freshly quarried from the hills east of the Scioto River. The pipes represent a variety of animals significant to the Hopewell, including owls, wolves, deer and beaver. Skilled Hopewell craftsmen carved the pipes with flint knives and some are embellished with pearls or copper. In Ohio, the Hopewell Indians (100 B.C.-A.D. 500) built burial mounds and large earthen enclosures in geometric shapes (circles, squares, and octagons) to mark the places where the people gathered periodically to participate in many social and ceremonial events. Some of these sites were quite large--the Newark Earthworks complex extends over a 4-square-mile area. The Hopewell people also maintained a large trade network extending as far as the Rocky Mountains of Wyoming, the Florida coast and Appalachians, and northern Lake Superior. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: Om1357_1756936_006
Subjects: American Indians in Ohio; Plants and Animals; Arts and Entertainment; Geography and Natural Resources; Hopewell Culture (A.D. 1-400); Mounds (Burials); Pipes (Smoking); Bears
Places: Rush Township (Ohio); Scioto County (Ohio)
 

Description: Reconstruction of an original altar figurine from the Ohio Hopewell culture, 100 BC-500 AD. The original object was excavated from Altar # 1 at Turner Mound, in Hamilton County, Ohio. The reconstruction is held in the Ohio History Connection Archaeology Collection. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: AL00271
Subjects: Hamilton County (Ohio); Ohio History--Natural and Native Ohio; American Indians--Archaeology; Archaeology--United States--History; Hopewell Culture (A.D. 1-400) (A.D. 1–400)
Places: Hamilton County (Ohio)
 

Description: Dark gray Hopewell flint point has a small triangular blade with an off-center tip. The base is nearly the same width as the blade and has wide shallow corner notches. The blade has possibly been reworked on one side. Item was found in Warren County, Ohio. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: AL07375
Subjects: Ohio History--Natural and Native Ohio; American Indian history and society; Arrows; Projectile points; Hunting; Hopewell Culture (A.D. 1-400) (A.D. 1–400)
Places: Warren County (Ohio)
 

Description: Bladelet core is made of Flint Ridge flint that is predominantly very dusky red in color, mottled with dark red, pale red, red, light red and reddish gray. There is also a spot of dark gray on the top. The flint has probably been heated by fire. It is cylindrical in shape, wider at the bottom than the top. There are long thin parallel scars where flakes (bladelets) of flint were removed. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: AL07250
Subjects: American Indians; Ohio History--Natural and Native Ohio; Hopewell Culture (A.D. 1-400) (A.D. 1–400); Archaeology
 

Description: This photograph is an image of the shelter house at Fort Ancient State Park, located in Washington Township, Warren County, Ohio. Built of stone, the open-air shelter has a pitched roof and an interior filled with picnic tables. Fort Ancient State Memorial is Ohio’s first state park. The Fort Ancient Earthworks are a series of earthen embankments that extend for more than three and one half miles around a high bluff along the Little Miami River in southwestern Ohio. Although it is called a "fort," it probably never served as a defensive work. Ditches are located inside the walls rather than outside as might be expected in a fortification. There are more than 60 gateways in the walls, making it difficult to defend the site against enemies. The Hopewell culture (100 B.C. to 500 A. D.) of prehistoric American Indian people constructed the earthworks. Later native residents built a village and a cemetery within the walls of the already ancient South Fort. Archaeologists mistakenly assumed that these villagers had built the earthen walls. It was called the Fort Ancient culture (1000 A.D. to 1650 A.D.) after the name of the site. This mistake has caused confusion for later students of Ohio archaeology. Recent excavations at Fort Ancient have discovered the remains of Hopewell culture houses and ceremonial features both inside and outside of the enclosure walls. It is not known whether the houses located inside the enclosure were occupied before or after the enclosure was built. It also has yet to be determined whether the houses were the dwellings of more or less full time residents, or the temporary shelters of visitors. The Fort Ancient Earthworks is an Ohio Historical Society site open to visitation. It is located seven miles southeast of Lebanon, in Warren County, Ohio. In addition to the earthworks, the site features a museum with interpretive exhibits about Ohio's ancient past. The Fort Ancient Earthworks site also is a National Historic Landmark. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: AL08011
Subjects: Fort Ancient (Ohio); Fort Ancient Culture (A.D. 1000–1650); Earthworks (Archaeology); Hopewell Culture (A.D. 1-400) (A.D. 1–400); State parks & reserves; Mounds--Ohio--Warren County
Places: Washington Township (Ohio); Warren County (Ohio)
 

Description: This photograph shows Richard G. Morgan, Curator of Archaeology for the Ohio State Archaeological and Historical Society (now the Ohio History Connection) from 1936 to 1947. Morgan, seen at right, is pictured with fellow archaeologists and workers at Fort Ancient. The Fort Ancient Earthworks are a series of earthen embankments that extend for more than three and a half miles around a high bluff along the Little Miami River in southwestern Ohio. Although it is called a "fort," it probably never served as a defensive work. Ditches are located inside the walls rather than outside as might be expected in a fortification. There are more than 60 gateways in the walls, making it difficult to defend the site against enemies. The Hopewell culture (100 B.C. to 500 A. D.) of prehistoric American Indian people constructed the earthworks. Later native residents built a village and a cemetery within the walls of the already ancient South Fort. Archaeologists mistakenly assumed that these villagers had built the earthen walls. It was called the Fort Ancient culture (1000 A.D. to 1650 A.D.) after the name of the site. This mistake has caused confusion for later students of Ohio archaeology. Recent excavations at Fort Ancient have discovered the remains of Hopewell culture houses and ceremonial features both inside and outside of the enclosure walls. It is not known whether the houses located inside the enclosure were occupied before or after the enclosure was built. It also has yet to be determined whether the houses were the dwellings of more or less full time residents, or the temporary shelters of visitors. The Fort Ancient Earthworks is an Ohio History Connection site open to visitation. It is located seven miles southeast of Lebanon, in Warren County, Ohio. In addition to the earthworks, the site features a museum with interpretive exhibits about Ohio's ancient past. The Fort Ancient Earthworks site also is a National Historic Landmark. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: AL08006
Subjects: Fort Ancient (Ohio); Fort Ancient Culture (A.D. 1000–1650); Earthworks (Archaeology); Hopewell Culture (A.D. 1-400) (A.D. 1–400); State parks & reserves; Mounds--Ohio--Warren County
Places: Warren County (Ohio)
 

Description: Eagle effigy boatstone, constructed of pipestone and river pearl, from the Ohio Hopewell culture, Middle Woodland period, 200 BC-400 AD. Excavated from the Hopewell Group, Ross County, ca. 1922-1925. The object is held in the Ohio History Connection Archaeology Collection. The Hopewell Mound Group, the type site for the Hopewell Culture, is located along the North Fork of Paint Creek in Union Township, Ross County, Ohio. When first surveyed in the mid-1800s the mound and earthwork complex, once referred to as the Clark Works, contained at least 38 mounds of various sizes within a 111-acre, somewhat “D”-shaped walled enclosure. An attached segmented square enclosed an additional 18 acres. The most notable mound in the group is referred to as Mound 25, a three-part conjoined mound that once measured 35 feet high by 500 feet long and 180 feet wide at the base. It was this mound more than any other that was the source of many of the iconic artifacts that defined the Hopewell Culture (100 BC-AD 400). The Hopewell Mound Group was extensively investigated in the early 1890s by Warren Moorehead to collect material for the 1892 World’s Columbian Exposition. This material is now housed in the Chicago Field Museum. In the 1920s Henry Shetrone of the Ohio State Archaeological and Historical Society (now the Ohio History Connection) also did extensive field work there, assembling an impressive collection of materials for the museum. Today the Hopewell Mound Group and several other related Ross County earthwork complexes are overseen by the National Park Service as the Hopewell Culture National Historic Park. The Hopewell Mound Group is one of seven Ohio Hopewell Ceremonial Earthwork sites presently under consideration by the United States Department of the Interior for nomination as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: AL00262
Subjects: Ross County (Ohio); Ohio History--Natural and Native Ohio; Archaeology--United States--History; Hopewell Culture (A.D. 1-400) (A.D. 1–400); Artifacts
Places: Ross County (Ohio)
 

Description: Large projectile point known as the Pricer spear, in reference to the person who found the point. Made of gray and white novaculite, it has a long, triangular blade with a broken tip. The stem is short and the basal edge is shorter on one side than the other. A portion of the basal edge has possibly broken away. The remaining basal edge is straight. One barb is slightly pointed and the other has been chipped on the edge. Item was excavated from Seip Mound in Paxton Township, Ross County, Ohio. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: AL07304
Subjects: Seip Mound (Ross County, Ohio); Ohio History--Natural and Native Ohio; Archaeology; Hopewell Culture (A.D. 1-400) (A.D. 1–400)
Places: Paxton Township (Ohio); Ross County (Ohio)
 

Description: Edwin Harness Mound, a third of the way through excavation, Ross County, Ohio, ca. 1900-1915. The Edwin Harness Mound was located south of Chillicothe in Liberty Township, Ross County, Ohio. It was the largest of the 14 mounds associated with the nearly 100-acre Liberty Earthworks, a complex dating to late in the Hopewell Period (post-A.D 300). In their 1840s survey, Squier and Davis described the mound as egg-shaped in plan (about 100 x 180 feet) with the larger end toward the north. It was measured at 20 feet high at the north end, sloping to 11 feet at the south end. Like many large Hopewell burial mounds in Ohio, the Harness Mound was repeatedly investigated throughout the late 19th and early 20th centuries, leading to the recovery of numerous burials and the a variety of related artifacts. The last fieldwork at the site took place in the 1970s in advance of the area being reclaimed for agricultural purposes. Archaeologists dug below the base level of the mound and discovered it had been constructed over the remains of two very large conjoined post structures, most likely ceremonial houses or perhaps a single great house. The houses each measured about 30 x 40 feet connected by a 10 x 10 foot passageway, reminiscent of how Hopewell earthworks in general were laid out. Additionally, numerous artifacts diagnostic of the Hopewell culture were recovered and radiocarbon dates ranging between A.D. 330 and A.D. 470 place the Edwin Harness Mound near the extreme end of the Hopewell sequence. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: AL00284
Subjects: Edwin Harness Mound (Ohio); Earthworks (Archaeology); Hopewell Culture (A.D. 1-400) (A.D. 1–400); Excavations (Archaeology)--Ohio
Places: Ross County (Ohio)
 

Description: This photograph shows an exploration crew having a meal at Fort Ancient. The Fort Ancient Earthworks are a series of earthen embankments that extend for more than three and one half miles around a high bluff along the Little Miami River in southwestern Ohio. Although it is called a "fort," it probably never served as a defensive work. Ditches are located inside the walls rather than outside as might be expected in a fortification. There are more than 60 gateways in the walls, making it difficult to defend the site against enemies. The Hopewell culture (100 B.C. to 500 A. D.) of prehistoric American Indian people constructed the earthworks. Later native residents built a village and a cemetery within the walls of the already ancient South Fort. Archaeologists mistakenly assumed that these villagers had built the earthen walls. It was called the Fort Ancient culture (1000 A.D. to 1650 A.D.) after the name of the site. This mistake has caused confusion for later students of Ohio archaeology. Recent excavations at Fort Ancient have discovered the remains of Hopewell culture houses and ceremonial features both inside and outside of the enclosure walls. It is not known whether the houses located inside the enclosure were occupied before or after the enclosure was built. It also has yet to be determined whether the houses were the dwellings of more or less full time residents, or the temporary shelters of visitors. The Fort Ancient Earthworks is an Ohio Historical Society site open to visitation. It is located seven miles southeast of Lebanon, in Warren County, Ohio. In addition to the earthworks, the site features a museum with interpretive exhibits about Ohio's ancient past. The Fort Ancient Earthworks site also is a National Historic Landmark. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: AL08002
Subjects: Fort Ancient (Ohio); Fort Ancient Culture (A.D. 1000–1650); Earthworks (Archaeology); Hopewell Culture (A.D. 1-400) (A.D. 1–400); State parks & reserves; Mounds--Ohio--Warren County
Places: Warren County (Ohio)
 

Description: This pipe in effigy (a likeness or representation) of a raccoon, made of gray and white mottled stone, was excavated from Tremper Mound, a Hopewell culture site located five miles north of Portsmouth in Scioto County. The effigy straddles the cylindrical bowl and the animal's legs are hanging down from the body, not flexed. The tail is out of proportion to the rest of the body as a means of additional support. The eyes are drilled; remnants of copper stain suggest they had been inset. The right margin of the bowl, the animal's right shoulder, and the platform have been restored. The effigy pipe measures approximately 1.5" x 3.5" x 1.25" (3.81 x 8.89 x 3.18 cm). This pipe is part of a large collection of pipes found at Tremper Mound. The pipes were carved of Ohio pipestone, a silica-based material that can be easily carved when freshly quarried from the hills east of the Scioto River. The pipes represent a variety of animals significant to the Hopewell, including owls, wolves, deer and beaver. Skilled Hopewell craftsmen carved the pipes with flint knives and some are embellished with pearls or copper. In Ohio, the Hopewell Indians (100 B.C.-A.D. 500) built burial mounds and large earthen enclosures in geometric shapes (circles, squares, and octagons) to mark the places where the people gathered periodically to participate in many social and ceremonial events. Some of these sites were quite large--the Newark Earthworks complex extends over a 4-square-mile area. The Hopewell people also maintained a large trade network extending as far as the Rocky Mountains of Wyoming, the Florida coast and Appalachians, and northern Lake Superior. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: Om1357_1136398_062
Subjects: American Indians in Ohio; Plants and Animals; Arts and Entertainment; Geography and Natural Resources; Hopewell Culture (A.D. 1-400); Mounds (Burials); Pipes (Smoking); Raccoons
Places: Rush Township (Ohio); Scioto County (Ohio)
 

Description: Photograph of a winter scene at Fort Ancient State Memorial, ca. 1910-1950. The Fort Ancient Earthworks are a series of earthen embankments that extend for more than three and one half miles around a high bluff along the Little Miami River in southwestern Ohio. Although it is called a "fort," it probably never served as a defensive work. Ditches are located inside the walls rather than outside as might be expected in a fortification. There are more than 60 gateways in the walls, making it difficult to defend the site against enemies. The Hopewell culture (100 B.C. to 500 A. D.) of prehistoric American Indian people constructed the earthworks. Later native residents built a village and a cemetery within the walls of the already ancient South Fort. Archaeologists mistakenly assumed that these villagers had built the earthen walls. It was called the Fort Ancient culture (1000 A.D. to 1650 A.D.) after the name of the site. This mistake has caused confusion for later students of Ohio archaeology. Recent excavations at Fort Ancient have discovered the remains of Hopewell culture houses and ceremonial features both inside and outside of the enclosure walls. It is not known whether the houses located inside the enclosure were occupied before or after the enclosure was built. It also has yet to be determined whether the houses were the dwellings of more or less full time residents, or the temporary shelters of visitors. The Fort Ancient Earthworks is an Ohio Historical Society site open to visitation. It is located seven miles southeast of Lebanon, in Warren County, Ohio. In addition to the earthworks, the site features a museum with interpretive exhibits about Ohio's ancient past. The Fort Ancient Earthworks site also is a National Historic Landmark. View on Ohio Memory.
Image ID: AL04689
Subjects: Fort Ancient (Ohio); Fort Ancient Culture (A.D. 1000–1650); Earthworks (Archaeology); Hopewell Culture (A.D. 1-400) (A.D. 1–400); State parks & reserves; Mounds--Ohio--Warren County; Winter
Places: Warren County (Ohio)