Ohio's Hopewell Ceremonial Earthworks featured on 'CBS News Sunday Morning'

Erin Couch, Columbus Dispatch
Updated ·2 min read
The Great Circle Earthworks were likely built about 2,000 years ago by people now known as the Hopewell. The site is part of Hopewell Ceremonial Earthworks, which was featured on "CBS News Sunday Morning."
The Great Circle Earthworks were likely built about 2,000 years ago by people now known as the Hopewell. The site is part of Hopewell Ceremonial Earthworks, which was featured on "CBS News Sunday Morning."
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Editor's note: This story previously misidentified one of the eight Hopewell Ceremonial Earthworks sites. It was corrected to Hopewell Mound Group.

Hopewell Ceremonial Earthworks received national attention Sunday.

"CBS News Sunday Morning" featured the local sites on its Jan. 21 broadcast.

The UNESCO World Heritage Committee voted to inscribe Hopewell Ceremonial Earthworks as a World Heritage site in September 2023. The World Heritage List includes nearly 1,200 natural and cultural sites around the world, among them, the Pyramids of Giza, the Great Wall of China and the Taj Mahal.

In the segment, CBS correspondent Conor Knighton explained that ancient Indigenous people, whom we now know as the Hopewell Culture, constructed Hopewell Ceremonial Earthworks.

The show also looked into a lease fight over the Octagon Earthworks site. Moundbuilders Country Club in Newark leases the land from Ohio History Connection and uses the historic mound area as a golf course.

The Ohio Supreme Court in December 2022 ruled that the State Historic Preservation Office had the right to buy out the country club's lease, which ends in 2078. A Licking County jury trial to determine the compensation for Moundbuilders was set for October, but was delayed due to further appeals by the country club, according to Ohio History Connection spokesperson Neil Thompson.

The induction to the World Heritage List put Hopewell Ceremonial Earthworks alongside other great landmarks, such as Stonehenge and the Great Barrier Reef. In response to criticism that the Ohio landmarks are simply piles of dirt, archeologist Brad Lepper told CBS there's more to the story.

"Here, there's no single place you can stand and capture it all," Lepper said in the news package. "You have to immerse yourself and walk through it to experience the grandeur."

Hopewell Ceremonial Earthworks is comprised of eight sites throughout Ohio, including:

  • Great Circle Earthworks in Newark/Heath.

  • Octagon Earthworks in Newark.

  • Hopeton Earthworks in Chillicothe.

  • Mound City, across the Scioto River from Hopeton Earthworks.

  • High Bank Works north of Columbus.

  • Hopewell Mound Group in Chillicothe.

  • Seip Earthworks in Chillicothe.

  • Fort Ancient in Oregonia.

This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Ohio's Hopewell Earthworks featured on 'CBS News Sunday Morning'