The Hopewell tradition, also called the Hopewell culture and Hopewellian exchange, describes a network of precontact Native American cultures that flourished in settlements along rivers in the northeastern and midwestern Eastern Woodlands from 100 BCE to 500 CE, in the Middle Woodland period. The Hopewell tradition was not a single culture or society but a widely dispersed set of populations connected by a common network of trade routes.
Fort Ancient is a name for a Native American culture that flourished from Ca. 1000-1750 CE and predominantly inhabited land near the Ohio River valley in the areas of modern-day southern Ohio, northern Kentucky, southeastern Indiana and western West Virginia. Although a contemporary of the Mississippian culture, they are often considered a "sister culture" and distinguished from the Mississippian culture. Although far from agreed upon, there is evidence to suggest that the Fort Ancient Culture were not the direct descendants of the Hopewellian Culture. It is suspected that the Fort Ancient Culture introduced maize agriculture to Ohio. The Fort Ancient Culture were most likely the builders of the Great Serpent Mound. Recent archeological study and carbon dating suggests that Alligator Mound in Granville also dates to the Fort Ancient era, rather than the assumed Hopewell era. It is believed that neither the Serpent or Alligator Mounds are burial locations, but rather served as ceremonial effigy sites.
Ancient Monuments of the Mississippi Valley (1848) by the Americans Ephraim George Squier and Edwin Hamilton Davis is a landmark in American scientific research, the study of the prehistoric indigenous mound builders of North America, and the early development of archaeology as a scientific discipline. Published in 1848, it was the Smithsonian Institution's first publication and the first volume in its Contributions to Knowledge series. The book had 306 pages, 48 lithographed maps and plates, and 207 wood engravings. The book was reissued in 1998 in paperback, with an introduction by David J. Meltzer, professor of anthropology at Southern Methodist University.
Lower Shawneetown, also known as Shannoah or Sonnontio, was an 18th-century Shawnee village located within the Lower Shawneetown Archeological District, near South Portsmouth in Greenup County, Kentucky and Lewis County, Kentucky. The population eventually occupied areas on both sides of the Ohio River, and along both sides of the Scioto River in what is now Scioto County, Ohio. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places on 28 April, 1983. It is near the Bentley site, a Madisonville Horizon settlement inhabited between 1400 CE and 1625 CE. Nearby, to the east, there are also four groups of Hopewell tradition mounds, built between 100 BCE and 500 CE, known as the Portsmouth Earthworks.
The Clough Creek and Sand Ridge Archaeological District is a historic district composed of two archaeological sites in the southwestern part of the U.S. state of Ohio. Its name is derived from those of the two sites included in the district: one that lies along Clough Creek, and one that occupies part of the Sand Ridge near the creek.
The Turpin site (33Ha28) is an archaeological site in the southwestern portion of the U.S. state of Ohio. Located near Newtown in Hamilton County, the site includes the remains of a village of the Fort Ancient culture and of multiple burial mounds. Detailed explorations of the site have revealed the bodies of many individuals in and around the mounds. The archaeological value of the site has resulted in its use in the study of similar locations and in its designation as a historic site.
The Prehistory of West Virginia spans ancient times until the arrival of Europeans in the early 17th century. Hunters ventured into West Virginia's mountain valleys and made temporary camp villages since the Archaic period in the Americas. Many ancient human-made earthen mounds from various mound builder cultures survive, especially in the areas of Moundsville, South Charleston, and Romney. The artifacts uncovered in these areas give evidence of a village society with a tribal trade system culture that included limited cold worked copper. As of 2009, over 12,500 archaeological sites have been documented in West Virginia.
The Portsmouth Earthworks are a large prehistoric mound complex constructed by the Native American Adena and Ohio Hopewell cultures of eastern North America. The site was one of the largest earthwork ceremonial centers constructed by the Hopewell and is located at the confluence of the Scioto and Ohio Rivers, in present-day Ohio.
The Feurt Mounds and Village Site is a Fort Ancient culture archaeological site with three burial mounds and an associated village, located in Clay Township in Scioto County, Ohio.
The Hobson site (33MS2) is a Native American archaeological site located 1.5 miles (2.4 km) below Middleport, Ohio on the north bank of the Ohio River. It has minor traces of Archaic, Woodland and Late Prehistoric artifacts. However, the largest component is a small village and cemetery of the Feurt Phase of the Fort Ancient culture originally estimated to date to 1100 to 1200 CE. More recent radiocarbon-dating has provided a date of 1350 CE.
The Hardin Village site (15GP22) is a Fort Ancient culture Montour Phase archaeological site located on a terrace of the Ohio River near South Shore in Greenup County, Kentucky. It is located within the Big Sandy Management Area along with the nearby Lower Shawneetown site. The site was first inhabited sometime in the early 16th century and abandoned by 1625. This era of protohistory saw the arrival of Europeans in North America, although by the time they made it to this area, the village had been long abandoned.
The Fox Farm site is a Middle Fort Ancient culture Manion Phase archaeological site located near Mays Lick in Mason County, Kentucky. The site consists of a large village complex on a ridge 2.5 kilometres (1.6 mi) south of the Licking River and 10 kilometres (6.2 mi) south of the Ohio River. The site covers 10-16 hectares and has midden areas up to 80 centimetres (31 in) thick. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places on May 9, 1983.
The Bentley site (15Gp15) is a Late Fort Ancient culture Madisonville horizon archaeological site overlain by an 18th-century Shawnee village; it is located within the Lower Shawneetown Archeological District, near South Portsmouth in Greenup County, Kentucky and Lewis County, Kentucky. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places on April 28, 1983. It is located near four groups of Hopewell tradition mounds, built between 100 BCE and 500 CE, known as the Portsmouth Earthworks.
The Muir site, (15JS86), is an Early Fort Ancient culture archaeological site located in Jessamine County, Kentucky, in the Bluegrass region of the state. It was occupied from about 1010 to 1255 CE during the Osborne Phase of the local chronology. The site is near Jessamine Creek, on top of a broad ridge. Unlike later Fort Ancient villages, which are more compact, the Muir site structures were spread out over the ridge top. These structures were rectangular with single set post construction, as opposed to Mississippian style wall trench construction. Within the houses were 30 centimetres (12 in) to 50 centimetres (20 in) deep floor basins with centrally located hearths for cooking and heating. Pottery found at the Muir site was limestone-tempered, unlike some later Fort Ancient pottery which became mussel shell tempered after contact with Mississippian cultures.
The Hansen site (15GP14) is an archaeological site located near South Portsmouth in Greenup County, Kentucky, United States. The 6-hectare (15-acre) site is on a flood terrace of the Ohio River across from the mouth of the Scioto River, just upstream from the Lower Shawneetown site and the Old Fort Earthworks. The site was occupied several times over the centuries, with occupations dating from the Late Archaic, Middle Woodland, and Fort Ancient periods.
The Biggs site (15Gp8), also known as the Portsmouth Earthworks Group D, is an Adena culture archaeological site located near South Shore in Greenup County, Kentucky. Biggs was originally a concentric circular embankment and ditch surrounding a central conical burial mound with a causeway crossing the ring and ditch. It was part of a larger complex, the Portsmouth Earthworks located across the Ohio River, now mostly obliterated by agriculture and the developing city of Portsmouth, Ohio.
The Cleek–McCabe site is a Middle Fort Ancient culture archaeological site near Walton in Boone County, Kentucky, in the northern Bluegrass region of the state. It is situated on Mud Lick Creek approximately 11 kilometres (6.8 mi) from the Ohio River. The site has several components, including two mounds and a village.
The Ronald Watson Gravel site (15BE249) is an archaeological site near Petersburg in Boone County, Kentucky, on an inside bend of a meander of the Ohio River. Excavations have determined that the site was occupied several times, during the Late Archaic, Middle Woodland, Late Woodland, and Middle Fort Ancient periods, although none of these are transitional occupations from one period to another. It is the best documented Middle Woodland site in the Northern Bluegrass region of Kentucky.
The Prather Site (12CL4) is a Middle Mississippian culture archaeological site located in the Falls of the Ohio region in Clark County, Indiana. It was the principal ceremonial center of the Prather Complex, the northeasternmost regional variant of the Mississippian cultures. It also bordered on several Upper Mississippian cultures, including the Fort Ancient peoples of Southern Indiana, Southern Ohio and Northeastern Kentucky.
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