Hopewell Hilltops

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The nature and variety of Hopewell hilltop enclosures, suggesting how and why they were built.

Precious Materials

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An overview of the use and trade of precious materials used in making artifacts associated with the earthworks: copper, obsidian, mica, pearls, and flint.

Textiles

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An explanation of the variety and complexity of Hopewell textiles, with a demonstration by Dr. Kathryn Jakes of how plant fibers were obtained from stems.

Earth, Soil

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Architectural historian and Project Director John Hancock explains how the earthwork builders understood “earth” itself as an architectural element.

Forests

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All the Ohio Valley was once covered with dense forest, meaning that the large clearings artificially created for the earthworks created an enormous impact.

Effigies

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Exploration of the Great Serpent Mound and other effigies now attributed to the Fort Ancient culture, compared with effigies from elsewhere in the Americas.

Music

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Ethnomusicologist Robert Templeman emphasizes that the builders’ music (panpipes, rattles, rasps, drums, and voices) differed in sound and purpose from we know today.

Music and Authenticity

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Ethnomusicologist Robert Templeman points out that most of the music in our program is “Westernized,” and inauthentic.

The Uncanny

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Architect William Taylor describes the feeling of being next to the great earthworks as uncanny, as though another world were projecting into the one we know.

Elaboration and Ritual

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Dr. David Cave explores the reasons for the great size and elaboration in ritual grounds and preparations, across cultures.

Deposits

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A discussion of the practice, and examples, of Hopewell interment of precious objects and materials in the earth.

Light and Shadow

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Archaeologist Dr. Gwynne Henderson of the University of Kentucky talks about the aesthetic power of light and shadow in earthwork design.