bbc travel has a nice long article about the ohio mound works --

 

the golf club on some of the hopewell mounds is in the process of getting eminent domained out -- if the ohio supreme court doesnt intervene:

 

 

 

 

REDISCOVERING AMERICA | ARCHAEOLOGY | USA | NORTH AMERICA

 

The US' 2,000-year-old mystery mounds

 

By Brandon Withrow5th December 2022

 

Constructed by a mysterious civilisation that left no written records, the Hopewell Ceremonial Earthworks are a testament to indigenous sophistication.

 

 

 

Autumn leaves crackled under our shoes as dozens of eager tourists and I followed a guide along a grassy mound. We stopped when we reached the opening of a turf-topped circle, which was formed by another wall of mounded earth. We were at The Octagon, part of the Hopewell Ceremonial Earthworks, a large network of hand-constructed hills spread throughout central and southern Ohio that were built as many as 2,000 years ago. Indigenous people would come to The Octagon from hundreds of miles away, gathering regularly for shared rituals and worship. 

 

"There was a sweat lodge or some kind of purification place there," said our guide Brad Lepper, the senior archaeologist for the Ohio History Connection's World Heritage Program (OHC), as he pointed to the circle. I looked inside to see a perfectly manicured lawn – a putting green. A tall flag marked a hole at its centre. 

 

The Octagon is currently being used as a golf course.

 

 

more:

https://www.bbc.com/travel/article/20221204-the-us-2000-year-old-mystery-mounds

 

The Hopewell Culture created massive, mysterious earthworks across Ohio (Credit: Mary Salen/Getty Images)

 

 

The earthworks' sophistication has astonished historians (Credit: Ohio History Connection)

 

 

 

If anyone has watched the Netflix show Ancient Apocalypse, which has become surprisingly controversial for its host being a psuedu-science pushing weirdo who fights against "the establishment archaeologists", he attempts to visit the Serpent Mound in Peebles but is denied entry because of his wild theories and because he wanted to do carbon dating to prove it's actually older than currently believed. He believes it was built at that spot because it's the southernmost spot of glaciation about 12,000 years ago. The guy may be full of sh*t, but the episode on the Serpent Mound is interesting nonetheless and highlights Ohio and all of our earthworks. 

Excellent news! The Ohio Supreme Court upheld 6-1 previous decisions to allow Ohio History Connection to reclaim the Octagon Earthworks in Newark by eminent domain. My understanding is the site being used for a private golf course was the main thing holding it back from World Heritage status.

 

Moundbuilders Country Club says they will file another case, but all rulings to this point have been pretty decisive. I have little sympathy - while they have taken good care of the grounds and prevented it from become housing or anything else, notihing was stopping them from allowing more than four public access days every year (sometimes not even on weekends).

 

https://www.newarkadvocate.com/story/news/2022/12/07/ohio-supreme-court-rules-against-moundbuilders-country-club-newark-earthworks-case/69708138007/

On 12/8/2022 at 10:53 AM, ucgrady said:

If anyone has watched the Netflix show Ancient Apocalypse, which has become surprisingly controversial for its host being a psuedu-science pushing weirdo who fights against "the establishment archaeologists", he attempts to visit the Serpent Mound in Peebles but is denied entry because of his wild theories and because he wanted to do carbon dating to prove it's actually older than currently believed. He believes it was built at that spot because it's the southernmost spot of glaciation about 12,000 years ago. The guy may be full of sh*t, but the episode on the Serpent Mound is interesting nonetheless and highlights Ohio and all of our earthworks. 

There is a surprisingly robust community of archaeological bullsh*tters, and it seems there is always a cable channel or other media outlet ready to give them a slot in the schedule. One of those "we're just asking questions" types that start with racist and unsubstantiated claims, and build from there, full of "what ifs", and "nobody's talking about".

 

On 12/9/2022 at 11:28 AM, westerninterloper said:

There is a surprisingly robust community of archaeological bullsh*tters, and it seems there is always a cable channel or other media outlet ready to give them a slot in the schedule. One of those "we're just asking questions" types that start with racist and unsubstantiated claims, and build from there, full of "what ifs", and "nobody's talking about".

 

Yeah any of those Ancient Aliens type theories that are based on the fact that 'primitive' peoples from the americas or asia couldn't possibly have been this advanced on their own so they must've gotten help does feel latently racist. I grew up in NKY/Cincy area and have never been to the Serpent Mound which is right up the road, so if nothing else the drone footage of the site and doing some reading about them has made me want to go visit it, and the other mounds in Newark, Miamisburg etc. 

14 hours ago, ucgrady said:

Yeah any of those Ancient Aliens type theories that are based on the fact that 'primitive' peoples from the americas or asia couldn't possibly have been this advanced on their own so they must've gotten help does feel latently racist. I grew up in NKY/Cincy area and have never been to the Serpent Mound which is right up the road, so if nothing else the drone footage of the site and doing some reading about them has made me want to go visit it, and the other mounds in Newark, Miamisburg etc. 

Yes, exactly about the AA types. In addition, there are Neanderthal "Christians" who visit the site regularly to "cleanse" it of its demons and bless it with some Jesus. 

 

Ohio has globally significant prehistoric sites, and hopefully soon Newark and Serpent Mounds will be listed as World Heritage Sites. 

This is very interesting article that also gets into locations where indigenous earthworks were located in the Cleveland area. But it also mentions a native American town of some 2,000 people existed until the 1700s, somewhere along the Cuyahoga River between Brecksville and Boston Heights. Given the prohibition of development of this area, I would think that there would still be some remnants to find of so many people living there.

 

https://sites.google.com/site/deepcovercleveland/home/prehistoric-indian-earthworks-in-the-city-of-cleveland-and-environs