Hopewell mounds from the Mound City Group in Ohio

Hopewell culture is the term used to describe common aspects of the Native American culture that flourished along rivers in the northeastern and midwestern United States from 200 BC to 400 A.D. At its greatest extent, Hopewell culture stretched from western New York to Missouri and from Wisconsin to Mississippi, and included both the American and Canadian shores of Lake Ontario. Image File history File links Hopewell_mound_city_16. ... Image File history File links Hopewell_mound_city_16. ... This article is about the people indigenous to the United States. ... This article is about the state. ... Official language(s) English Capital Jefferson City Largest city Kansas City Largest metro area St Louis[1] Area  Ranked 21st  - Total 69,709 sq mi (180,693 km²)  - Width 240 miles (385 km)  - Length 300 miles (480 km)  - % water 1. ... Official language(s) None Capital Madison Largest city Milwaukee Area  Ranked 23rd  - Total 65,498 sq mi (169,790 km²)  - Width 260 miles (420 km)  - Length 310 miles (500 km)  - % water 17  - Latitude 42° 30′ N to 47° 05′ N  - Longitude 86° 46′ W to 92° 53′ W Population  Ranked... This article is about the U.S. state. ... Lake Ontario, bounded on the north by the Canadian province of Ontario and on the south by Ontarios Niagara Peninsula and by New York State, USA, is one of the five Great Lakes of North America. ...

Hopewell can also be considered a cultural climax. Origins of the Hopewell culture are still under discussion. "Hopewell populations originated in western New York and moved south into Ohio where they built upon the local Adena mortuary tradition. Or Hopewell was said to have originated in western Illinois and spread by diffusion - perhaps carried by a religious elite - to southern Ohio. Similarly, the Havana Hopewell tradition was thought to have spread up the Illinois River and into southwestern Michigan, spawning Goodall Hopewell" (Dancey, p.114). Aside from the more famous Ohio Hopewell, a number of other Middle Woodland period cultures are known as "Hopewellian," including the Swift Creek culture, 100-500 A.D., the Santa Rosa-Swift Creek culture, 100-300 A.D., the Marksville culture, 1-400 A.D., and the Copena culture, 1-500 A.D. Official language(s) English de facto Capital Columbus Largest city Columbus Largest metro area Greater Cleveland Area  Ranked 34th  - Total 44,825 sq mi (116,096 km²)  - Width 220 miles (355 km)  - Length 220 miles (355 km)  - % water 8. ... An Adena pipe excavated from the Criel Mound The Adena culture was a Pre-Columbian Native American culture that existed from c. ... The Woodland period of North American pre-Columbian cultures lasted roughly from 1000 BCE to 1000 CE. The term Woodland was coined in the 1930s and refers to prehistoric sites between the Archaic period and the Mississippian cultures. ... The Swift Creek culture was a Middle Woodland period archaeological culture in Georgia and Florida dating to around 100-500 AD. Swift Creek ceremonial practices and burial complex are referred to technically as the Yent-Green Point complex. ...

Hopewell culture is known for its flamboyant burial ceremonialism, diversified material culture, and most importantly, exchange between other communities. Evidence for exchange can be found in exotic artifacts not native to the Hopewell region. With this exchange network, raw materials, as well as finished products were exported and imported. "It was thought that the distinctive Hopewellian artifacts were crafted specifically for mortuary ritual...however, many of the kinds of artifacts associated with human remains under the mounds were found also in settlement debris" (Dancey, p.117). Other features of Hopewell culture include the predominance of agriculture as opposed to hunting and gathering. Chief crops included squash, sunflowers, and various grasses, though maize, which would later become a dietary staple in the region, was only rarely cultivated. The Hopewell employed native copper, silver, mica, meteoric iron, obsidian and a large variety of exotic materials in their tools, weapons and material goods. Many of the exotic materials utilized by the Hopewell were obtained via a vast network of trade. Species - hubbard squash, buttercup squash - cushaw squash - butternut squash - most pumpkins, acorn squash, summer squash References: ITIS 22365 2002-11-06 Hortus Third Squashes are four species of the genus Cucurbita, also called pumpkins and marrows depending on variety or the nationality of the speaker. ... For other uses, see Sunflower (disambiguation). ... Subfamilies There are 7 subfamilies: Subfamily Arundinoideae Subfamily Bambusoideae Subfamily Centothecoideae Subfamily Chloridoideae Subfamily Panicoideae Subfamily Pooideae Subfamily Stipoideae The true grasses are monocotyledonous plants (Class Liliopsida) in the Family Poaceae, also known as Gramineae. ... This article is about the maize plant. ... Although copper most commonly occurs in oxidized states and mixed with other elements, it is found in its native form in various regions of the world. ... This article is about the chemical element. ... Rock with mica Mica sheet Mica flakes The mica group of sheet silicate minerals includes several closely related materials having highly perfect basal cleavage. ... Bacubirito in Culiacan, Mexico is second largest meteorite in the Americas, fifth largest in the world A meteorite is a relatively small extra-terrestrial body that reaches the Earths surface. ... This article is about a type of volcanic glass. ... There are very few or no other articles that link to this one. ...

Hand carved in mica by the Hopewell

Today, the best-known feature of Hopewell culture is the mounds that they built for religious/ burial purposes. It is known to be one of the most considerable achievements of Native Americans throughout the ancient past. These mounds, especially along the Ohio River valley could take various geometric shapes and rise to impressive heights. Samples of these mounds can still be seen today, especially in the Hopewell Culture National Historical Park in Chillicothe, Ohio. The Rock Eagle and Rock Hawk Effigy Mounds, in Putnam County, Georgia are sometimes attributed to members of the Hopewell or Adena cultures, but may have been created by a distinct group. Determining the function of the mounds is still under debate. "One popular proposition for the shapes of the earthworks is that they were laid out to record astronomical observations, such as the movement of the sun through the seasons, or of the Moon and Venus" (Dancey, p.123). Due to lack of evidence and poor condition of the mounds, little more information can be obtained. Bradley T. Lepper, Curator of Archaeology, Ohio Historical Society, has argued that the Octagonal mound complex at Newark, Ohio is actually a lunar observatory which records the 18.6 year cycle of 'moonrises' and 'moonsets'. William F. Romain, Ph.D. has written a book on the subject and several articles.^[1] Image File history File links Hand_Hopewell_mica. ... Image File history File links Hand_Hopewell_mica. ... Rock with mica Mica sheet Mica flakes The mica group of sheet silicate minerals includes several closely related materials having highly perfect basal cleavage. ... View of Pittsburgh, the largest metropolitan area on the Ohio River, where the Allegheny River (left) and the Monongahela River (right) join at Point State Park to form the Ohio River Cincinnati, Ohio is a well known city along the Ohio River, historically known for its riverboats. ... This article needs to be cleaned up to conform to a higher standard of quality. ... Nickname: Location in the state of Ohio Coordinates: , Country United States State Ohio Counties Ross Government  - Mayor Joseph P. Sulzer (D) Area  - City 9. ... Rock Eagle Effigy Mound, veiwed from adjacent observation tower, 26 August 2007. ... Rock Hawk Effigy Mound is an archaeological site in Putnam County, Georgia, U.S.A. () It consists of thousands of pieces of quartzite laid in the shape of a large bird. ... Putnam County is a county located in the U.S. state of Georgia. ... An Adena pipe excavated from the Criel Mound The Adena culture was a Pre-Columbian Native American culture that existed from c. ...

There are many ideas about the collapse of the Hopewellian culture. Apparently, they ceased to exist around 200 AD. Some suggest that probability of their fall was their society dissolved, rather than crashing. Breakdown in societal organization could have been a result of full-scale agriculture. Scholars Dunnell and Greenlee suggest an idea of waste behavior. "They argue that energy was diverted from biological reproduction during a period when climate irregularities favored small families. As climate became predictable from year to year, energy was turned from waste behavior to food production" (Dancey, p.131). Still, the true reasoning of their evident dispersal is yet to be discovered, and much more knowledge is needed.

The Hopewell shared some features with the Mississippian culture that arose c. 900-1000 A.D. in the Eastern United States. It is unclear how much continuity there was between the two cultures. The Mississippian culture was a mound-building Native American culture that flourished in what is now the Midwestern, Eastern, and Southeastern United States from approximately 800 to 1500 A.D., varying regionally. ...

The Center for American Archeology specializes in Hopewell culture. Center for American Archeology, or CAA, is an is an independent non-profit 501(c)3 research and education institution nestled along the banks of the Illinois River in scenic Calhoun County in Kampsville, Illinois dedicated to the culture of prehistoric Native Americans. ...

Sources

• Dancey, William. “The Enigmatic Hopewell of the Eastern Woodlands.” North American Archaeology. Ed. Timothy R. Pauketat and Diana Dipaolo Loren. Malden: Blackwell Publishing Ltd., 2005. 108-137.

See also

• Hopewell Culture National Historical Park
• Hopewell pottery

This article needs to be cleaned up to conform to a higher standard of quality. ... There are very few or no other articles that link to this one. ...

Footnotes

1. ^ Newark Earthwork Cosmology.

External Links

• Octagon Moonrise website
• Ohio Memory
• Ohio Historical Society's Archaeology Page

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Hopewell culture