Fort Ancient Earthworks is a hilltop enclosure built by the Hopewell Indians nearly 2000 years ago. Although early settlers believed its walls were defensive and gave it the name Fort Ancient, archaeologists now believe the site served primarily as a religious and social center. Evidence includes seventy openings or gateways in the three and a half miles of earthen walls, along with mounds, parallel earth walls, and stone pavements that suggest it was not a defensive site. The Hopewell Indians occupied the major river valleys of southern Ohio, where they also built other hilltop enclosures, geometrically shaped earthworks, and mounds. Archaeologists debate whether the Hopewell lived year-round at their earthworks or visited them only for special occasions, which may have involved additional construction, trade with distant communities, and religious observances. For reasons still unclear, the Hopewell culture disappeared after A.D.500-600. Late Woodland Indians, likely descendants of the Hopewell, continued to occupy southern Ohio. Around A.D.1200, the Fort Ancient Indians became the second major group associated with this site. They lived in villages supported by growing corn, beans, and squash, as well as by hunting, fishing, and gathering wild plant foods. One community, now known as Anderson Village, stood along the Little Miami River, and another village was established within the South Fort portion of the enclosure. Fort Ancient people could occupy one village for ten to fifteen years before the soil was depleted. Recent archaeological work has focused on the order in which the Hopewell built the enclosure's three major parts and on the possibility that some walls and mounds functioned as astronomical calendars.