Family members who own a farm that holds rare, 1,500-year-old burial mounds won't sell the site, despite the recent death of the farm's longtime resident and the high price its 20 acres could bring.
The farm is home to a rectangle-shaped mound and two circle-shaped mounds - known as the Wright-Holder Works. They're believed to be remnants of the ancient Hopewell and Adena cultures that flourished in southern Ohio between 800 and 2,400 years ago.
The Wright-Holder Works were the northernmost known outpost of the Hopewell and one of the last remaining ancient earthworks in the Columbus area. The farm's rectangular earthwork stands 6 feet tall and stretches 130 feet by 300 feet - rare because of its large size, said archaeologist Jarrod Burks.
Ohio archaeologists excavated mounds on the farm in 1922 and 1961, finding stone axes and other cutting tools. Anthropologists and archaeologists are hoping to examine the site further to determine whether the Adena and Hopewell were two distinct tribes or one culture with small variations.
Josephine Holder, who lived on the property until she died last month at age 96, believed the earthworks should serve as reminders of past cultures. In 1988, Holder talked about selling the farm to the suburban Columbus city of Dublin if officials would agree to build a park that featured the earthworks. The proposal went nowhere.
Holder's two daughters said they are looking for ways to preserve the earthworks out of respect for their mother's wishes.
For more, see the Columbus Dispatch.
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