Ohio's 2,000-Year-Old Hopewell Earthworks

OREGONIA, OHIO—Several years ago, remote sensing equipment revealed three concentric circles once made of large wooden posts in an area now known as the North Fort at Ohio’s Fort Ancient Earthworks. Called the Moorehead Circle, the posts may have been three separate structures built over time, or they may represent one structure supported by all three rings. This year’s excavations, conducted by Robert Riordan of Wright State University, have shown that the entrance to the Moorehead Circle was paved with limestone slabs, and a pit at its center was filled with red earth. Pieces of broken pottery, perhaps from a feast or ceremony, were found around the edges of the pit. Traces of what may have been bleacher seating were also uncovered.