Pathway to Ancestors

This earthen wall was part of a set of converging walls that once channeled people from the Great Circle into an avenue enclosed by parallel walls. That avenue led to a large square earthwork to the northeast, of which the Wright Earthworks preserves a small remnant. Beyond the square, another set of parallel walls led to a large oval earthwork containing a number of large and small burial mounds. Although these mounds were destroyed before archaeologists could study them, they evidently held many remarkable artifacts like those found at other Hopewell culture mounds. The only artifact known with certainty to have come from these mounds and still visible today is a small stone sculpture of a person, possibly a shaman, wearing bear regalia.

Heath, Ohio · United States