Another of Ohio’s rare ancient Native American earthworks is being sold at auction today. Almost al
l of the Hopewell Culture earthworks in Ohio have been destroyed by development making Fortified Hill in Butler County of immense archaeological significance. When it was documented by Ephraim George Squier and Edwin Hamilton Davis in their 1848 work Ancient Monuments of the Mississippi Valley, the first major archaeological publication dedicated to Native American mounds, Fortified Hill was one of six Hopewell earthworks along the Great Miami River. Now it is the only one remaining.
The earthwork is on private property. It was acquired years ago by the late Dr. Lou Barich with the intent of protecting it from the encroaching development of nearby Dayton and Cincinnati. Unfortunately, he did not make those good intentions explicit in his will. He died this summer and some of his heirs are insisting on cashing out, so all of his property, including the four parcels that contain most of the Fortified Hill earthworks and extremely rare surviving gateways, are going under the hammer today.
In an effort to save the ancient earthworks for future generations, Dr. Jeff Leipzig, a friend of Barich, has stepped up and organized a variety of historical preservation groups to raise money for the auction. […]
Leipzig hopes the coalition can preserve the land as a public park, and limit excavation to responsible archeologists and historians, so as to permanently protect a rare window into Native America and the forgotten ancient world.
“It’s for science,” said Leipzig. “This isn’t gonna be somebody randomly digging up a mound and trying to find treasure in it, which is the risk… That’s the risk with any of these properties, people dig into them and they destroy them. They’re cemeteries, they’re spiritual sites, they’re sacred sites.”
Every minute and every dollar counts, so if you’d like to help the Archaeological Conservancy raise enough funds to get an ownership stake in the Fortified Hill parcels and keep the McMansions from obliterating this unique archaeological treasure, please pledge here immediately. (Sorry for the late notice. I only just read about this and it’s imperative that the funds be available by auction time.)
A scale of “400 ft to the inch” suggest that -on paper- the fortress is rather massive, and it has not been prospected for 150 years? 😮
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You have: 400ft/inch
You want: meter/cm
400ft/inch = 48 meter/cm
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Also, may I humbly ask, where the exact spot would be supposed to have existed?
What I found was this: https[://]bchistoricalsociety[dot]com/2015/06/20/1855-map-butler-county/ (w/o the square brackets, of course).
Is there anyway the federal and state historic registers can get involved? (I only know about building historic register). This mound is defining a significant historical landscape.
The site was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in the 1970’s. However, such a placement does nothing to prevent the complete destruction of a site. The NRHP designation will only prevent the use of federal funds to pay for the destruction. A private entity may bulldoze away.
They saved it! Heartland Conservancy did anyway. facebook link: https://www.facebook.com/HeartlandEarthworksConservancy/photos/a.692331817501998/2400042593397570/?type=3&eid=ARD-b9_rRQfiKaRIOF8IVYp-S5F2pmLfg2kGIhGa2LYVtbtKvC_Ud3K_mEJfnA495GVPReJS_2BvNb2n&__xts__%5B0%5D=68.ARDSy0CizuabwMemEDg_dbCT99CIQ_lDLCoj9qOYCV_qicVZlh5Wja9m3Ix31jqw0wrc14MRQurFAgyouwIaTutdkODHA7XIx9ccg9X9KdD_QYGEp9Z9jYdG8B35h_9ZKZxf4hqpfkZRpLW1Y8ozgIUMgi-yoKg-EeWa8BkobfwV9rP7RVwNtFTx5yBmeIG4WOkUWeyTt89ZQCGZwo6W7w-bkwMS-fjAHeUcl6QVfcOCUQHIqM1aWD3M38A4sWFpCFaE1wJH4CFtjj42g1Xy41FaXUqdTuLazmYd70eid5J3VezyhmP_nH068F5FRFs8CnWNYVOjLzw-NIh5&__tn__=EEHH-R
Success!
Heartland Earthworks Conservancy
· 20 hrs ·
Breath in, breath out…..Success!!! We did it! You did it! All four parcels bought at auction! I’m looking forward to the day when I can give each of you a tour around Ohio’s newest park celebrating one of the greatest ancient monument building cultures in the world
Having grown up in Ohio, we were taught about these earthworks in school. I had no idea they were at risk. So happy to see that they are now saved!
You’re not from here, are you? 🙂
Well done, bravo!
Excellent!! The question is what the best ownership is in perpetuity to protect the site, a private non-profit organization or the public through a governmental entity.
Also, the 19th century map shows a plan that is very reminicent of Iron Age hill forts in the UK. It may be an example of form following function.