Located at the northeast corner of Emerald Parkway and Riverside Drive, the new Ferris-Wright Park and Hopewell Earthworks opening this fall will preserve and showcase the ancient earthworks, farmhouse and natural features of the space that are a significant part of Dublin’s history.
The land surrounding the park has been home to many over the years, from indigenous peoples thousands of years ago to some of Dublin’s first settlers and 20th century residents.
The Hopewell Culture
The indigenous peoples of the Hopewell era represent tribes known for building earthworks – precise geometric shapes that hold meaning and purpose – in the Ohio Valley. “Hopewell” was the name of the family on whose land these earthworks were first noticed in Ross County, Ohio, in the 1800s.
The Hopewell People lived, hunted, fished and farmed in what is now Ohio and other parts of eastern North America around 100 B.C. to A.D. 400. They were an advanced society with an extensive trade network that ran from the Great Lakes to the Gulf of Mexico and out west to the Rocky Mountains.
They had a sophisticated understanding of geometry and astronomy, and these principles were demonstrated in their ceremonial spaces known as earthworks.
“The earthworks provided places for gatherings of people, just as American Indian people continue to do today,” said Marti L. Chaatsmith, interim director of the Newark Earthworks Center.
“People came to these places for ceremony, for marriages, to honor their relatives and neighbors who died, to make alliances, for celebration, feasting, and sacred games. They were places of joy, prayer, solemnity and grief,” she said.
Today, few of these ceremony spaces remain intact. Many have been damaged or cleared away for farming and development.
The earthworks at Ferris-Wright Park are the northernmost earthworks in the Scioto valley. Many groups of tribes are represented at this site, with the oldest dating back to Clovis times, or about 12,000 years ago.
The park contains three earthworks (two circles and a square) and five burial mounds. The tallest mound once stood five feet tall and the others were approximately three feet tall.
Digging square holes helps archaeologists see the layers of earth clearly and quantify artifacts, leaving anything that looks interesting on a pedestal of earth for later investigation.
villagers for many years before being professionally excavated in 1890, 1922 and 1961. The artifacts retrieved during these digs helped archeologists better understand the people of the Hopewell culture.
More at
https://www.cityscenecolumbus.com/communities/dublinlife/dublin%E2%80%99s-ties-to-ancient-peoples-showcased-in-new-green-spac/
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