Earspool   Save
Raymond J. Ater Collection
Description: This copper earspool is constructed of two round disks with a post in the center holding the disks apart. The disks have round indentations in their centers on the outside. The earspools show extensive oxidation with cremated bone adhering to one side; the other side appears to have a corroded iron cover with woven textiles adhering to it. Corroded areas are brilliant green, moderate green, and grayish olive green in color. Other areas are strong brown, very dark brown, black, and pale yellow. This piece comes from Hopewell Culture. 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: A3062_000128_002
Subjects: Hopewell Culture (A.D. 1–400); Mound-builders; Indian copperwork
Places: Raymond J. Ater Collection