The term Hopewell is applied to a wide scattering of peoples who lived near rivers in temporary settlements of 1-3 households. They practiced a mixture of hunting, gathering, and crop growing. Politics and hierarchy [ edit] The Hopewell inherited from their Adena forebears an incipient social stratification.
What were Hopewell villages made of?
Hopewell settlements were small villages or hamlets of a few rectangular homes made of posts with wattle and daub walls and thatched roofs. The people raised crops including sunflower, squash, goosefoot, maygrass, and other plants with oily or starchy seeds.
What was the settlement pattern of the Hopewell tribe?
Settlement Patterns. The Hopewell built some truly spectacular ritual mound complexes out of sod blocks--the best known is the Newark mound group in Ohio. Some Hopewell mounds were conical, some were geometric or effigies of animals or birds.
Who were the Hopewellians?
The mound group was named after Mordecai Hopewell, whose family then owned the property where the earthworks are sited. What any of the various peoples now classified as Hopewellian called themselves is unknown. [3] [4] The term Hopewell is applied to a wide scattering of peoples who lived near rivers in temporary settlements of 1-3 households.
Where did the Hopewell culture live?
Re-creation of a Hopewell hamlet (www.cerhas.uc.edu) The Hopewell culture flourished in Ohio and other parts of eastern North America during the Middle Woodland Period, possibly as early as 100 B.C.
What was the Hopewell society like?
Ohio Hopewell culture These cultural centers typically contained a burial mound and a geometric earthwork complex that covers ten to hundreds of acres, with sparse residential settlements. There is little evidence of large resident populations at the monument complexes.
What are the characteristics of Hopewell?
Hopewell groups shared four traits. First, they built groups of mounds and embankments, some of which were hundreds of acres in size. Second, they had elaborate graves inside some mounds. Third, they made artifacts of materials that came from far away.
Where did the Hopewell people settle?
Hopewell culture, notable ancient Indian culture of the east-central area of North America. It flourished from about 200 bce to 500 ce chiefly in what is now southern Ohio, with related groups in Michigan, Wisconsin, Indiana, Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Pennsylvania, and New York.
What did the Hopewell tribe live in?
The Hopewell Indians lived in villages along rivers and streams. They built dome-shaped houses covered with bark, animal hides, or woven mats.
What is the Hopewell culture known for?
The people who are considered to be part of the "Hopewell culture" built massive earthworks and numerous mounds while crafting fine works of art whose meaning often eludes modern archaeologists. This "Hopewell culture" flourished between roughly A.D. 1 and A.D. 500.
What did the Hopewell call themselves?
Hopewell wasn't a tribal name and no one knows what they called themselves. The Hopewell mounds were bigger than those of the Adena cultures and their burials involved more ceremony. Hopewell burials included putting ochre and other pigments on the body.
What did the Hopewell eat?
In their eating habits, the Hopewell fit between hunter-gatherers and farmers. The Hopewell may have grown some plants, but they were not a full-time farming people. They ate nuts, squash, and the seeds from several plants. Hopewell people also ate wild animals, birds, and fish.
Why did Hopewell disappear?
This week, experts at the University of Cincinnati said the explosion in the atmosphere of a piece of that comet — an “air burst” — could have led to the unexplained decline of the Hopewell culture, which flourished in the eastern United States from about 100 B.C. to about 400 A.D.
What does the word Hopewell mean?
Hopewell definition An early Native American culture centered in the Ohio River valley from about the second century bc to the fourth century ad , noted for the construction of extensive earthworks and large conical burial mounds and for its highly developed arts and crafts. noun. 2.
What crops did the Hopewell grow?
The Hopewell relied on farming as well as hunting, fishing, and gathering for food. They grew a variety of crops including squash and corn.
Who built mounds?
Mound Builders were prehistoric American Indians, named for their practice of burying their dead in large mounds. Beginning about three thousand years ago, they built extensive earthworks from the Great Lakes down through the Mississippi River Valley and into the Gulf of Mexico region.
What was the Hopewell religion?
Religion was dominated by shamanic practices that included tobacco smoking. Stone smoking pipes and other carvings evince a strong affinity to the animal world, particularly in the depictions of monstrous human and animal combinations.
What were some of the main characteristics of Native American culture during the Mississippian era?
Cultural traitsThe construction of large, truncated earthwork pyramid mounds, or platform mounds. ... Maize-based agriculture. ... Shell-tempered pottery. ... Widespread trade networks extending as far west as the Rocky Mountains, north to the Great Lakes, south to the Gulf of Mexico, and east to the Atlantic Ocean.More items...
What is the meaning of Hopewell?
Hopewell Origin and Meaning It is derived from Hopwell, from the Old English elements hop, meaning "valley," and well, "stream." Hopewell could easily be adapted into a first name, with Hope or Wells as nickname possibilities.
What is the Hopewell religion?
Religion was dominated by shamanic practices that included tobacco smoking. Stone smoking pipes and other carvings evince a strong affinity to the animal world, particularly in the depictions of monstrous human and animal combinations.
What are the three main cultures of the Mound Builders?
Archeologists, the scientist who study the evidence of past human lifeways, classify moundbuilding Indians of the Southeast into three major chronological/cultural divisions: the Archaic, the Woodland, and the Mississippian traditions.
What is Hopewell culture?
The Hopewell culture (also known as Hopewellian or Adena culture) of the United States refers to a prehistoric society of Middle Woodland (100 BCE–500 CE) horticulturalists and hunter-gatherers.
Where did Hopewell Archaeology begin?
Hopewell Archaeology. Hopewell archaeology began in the early 20th century with the discovery of spectacular artifacts of stone, shell, and copper from mounds in a complex on Mordecai Hopewell's farm on a tributary stream of the Scioto River in southcentral Ohio.
Why Did the Hopewell People Build Enormous Mounds?
Woodcut map of Newark Earthworks, Ohio, USA. Built during Hopewell culture. 1889 facsimile of 1862 map in Prehistoric Man by Daniel Wilson. NNehring / DigitalVision Vectors / Getty Images
What was the name of the mounds that Hopewell built?
The Hopewell built some truly spectacular ritual mound complexes out of sod blocks—the best known is the Newark mound group in Ohio. Some Hopewell mounds were conical, some were geometric or effigies of animals or birds.
Why did the hunter gatherer build mounds?
Scholars suggest that mound construction occurred as a way to bind small communities together, communities who were mostly confined to waterways, but were too small to build social connections required to support one another in hard times, or to find appropriate marriage partners. If so, then economic relationships might have been established and maintained through public ritual, or mark territory or corporate identity. Some evidence exists suggesting at least some of the leaders were shamans, religious leaders.
What was the Hopewell Interaction Sphere?
Built and maintained the Hopewell Interaction Sphere, a trade network in exotic raw materials that spanned nearly the entire North American continent.
How did the exotic materials found in the mounds and residential areas get there?
Archaeologists still debate how much of the exotic materials found in the mounds and residential areas got there as a result of long-distance trade or as a result of seasonal migrations or long distance travels.
How were the Hopewell settlements linked?
The Hopewell settlements were linked by extensive and complex trading routes ; these operated also as communication networks, and were a means to bring people together for important ceremonies.
Where did Hopewell spread?
Similarly, the Havana Hopewell tradition was thought to have spread up the Illinois River and into southwestern Michigan, spawning Goodall Hopewell. (Dancey 114) The name "Hopewell" was applied by Warren K. Moorehead after his explorations in 1891 and 1892 of the Hopewell Mound Group in Ross County, Ohio.
What is the Havana Hopewell culture?
Havana Hopewell culture. The Havana Hopewell culture was a Hopewellian people in the Illinois and Mississippi river valleys in Iowa, Illinois, and Missouri.
What are the best surviving features of the Hopewell tradition?
Today, the best-surviving features of the Hopewell tradition era are earthwork mounds. Researchers have speculated about their purposes and debate continues. Great geometric earthworks are one of the most impressive Native American monuments throughout American prehistory, and were built by cultures following the Hopewell. Eastern Woodlands mounds typically have various geometric shapes and rise to impressive heights. Some of the gigantic sculpted earthworks, described as effigy mounds, were constructed in the shape of animals, birds, or writhing serpents. Due to considerable evidence and surveys, plus the good condition of the largest surviving mounds, more information can be obtained.
What did Hopewell society do?
Hopewell societies cremated most of their deceased and reserved burial for only the most important people. In some sites, hunters apparently were given a higher status in the community: their graves were more elaborate and contained more status goods.
What is the Hopewell tradition?
The Hopewell tradition (also called the Hopewell culture) describes the common aspects of an ancient pre-Columbian Native American civilization that flourished in settlements along rivers in the northeastern and midwestern Eastern Woodlands from 100 BCE to 500 CE, in the Middle Woodland period . The Hopewell tradition was not a single culture or society, but a widely dispersed set of populations connected by a common network of trade routes. This is known as the Hopewell exchange system.
Where is Hopewell in Kansas City?
Kansas City Hopewell. At the western edge of the Hopewell interaction sphere is the Kansas City Hopewell. The Renner Village archeological site in Riverside, Missouri, is one of several sites near the junction of Line Creek and the Missouri River. The site contains Hopewell and succeeding Middle Mississippian remains.
Where did Hopewell live?
In the Illinois Valley, which many scholars believe to be the origin of the Hopewell, we find a similar situation. Their “villages could not have held more than a hundred people.” And their living quarters were “rectangular or oval shaped;” and “were built of wooden posts and were probably covered with mats or with sheets of bark, like the wigwams of contact period Indians.” 14
Who wrote Scioto Hopewell and their neighbors?
The Scioto Hopewell and Their Neighbors: Bioarchaeological Documentation and Cultural Understanding (Interdisciplinary Contributions to Archaeology, by Daniel Troy Case, Christopher Carr, C.A. Johnston, and B. Goldstein Springer; 1st Edition. edition (July 24, 2008), pg 319
What were the enclosure mounds used for?
Proponents of the Heartland geography theory that centers around the Great Lakes area claim that enclosure mounds among the Hopewell were used as military fortification against raiding Lamanites. While The Book of Mormon does speak about the Nephites casting up dirt walls to protect a city 20 , this rudimentary look at the Hopewell mounds does not align with the evidence that trained archaeologists have found. They are learning that many of these Hopewell mounds were not built in a hurry to thwart off invading enemies, but were slowly built over several centuries, and used for worship purposes. Archaeologists have come to the conclusion that “it is unlikely than any of them would have been effective militarily.” 21 especially since these enclosures were not complete, but had several large gaps in them, which would expose the defenders to the enemy. 22
Why did the Nephite civilization end?
Finally, the end of the Nephite civilization came because of years of bloodshed and war, ending the Nephite civilization desolate abruptly within a few years. What we find among the Hopewell is a very different story. “The great Hopewell culture thrived for 600 years. Then, around 500 AD., the culture disappeared with no signs of violence.” 25 and seems to have “dissolved” rather “than collapsed.” 26
Did the Hopewell use the bow and arrow?
But again, the Hopewell do not pass this test. While the bow and arrow were used by later civilizations, the Hopewell did not have a knowledge of the weapon until after Book of Mormon time period. 23
Where was the bow and arrow used in the Book of Mormon?
This is exactly what we find . “Paul Tolstoy, claims that there is evidence for “the limited use of the bow and arrow in central Mexico ” during Book of Mormon times. In fact recent archaeological findings confirm that the bow was used in parts of Mesoamerica as early as the time of Christ.” 31
Did Hopewell have enough people?
In the nucleus of the Hopewell culture, we find that the Hopewell not only lack the population to match the numbers throughout The Book of Mormon, but they did not even have enough people to have fought one major battle mentioned in The Book of Mormon .
Endnotes
1. Prufer ultimately assigned trinomial designations to the sites he located during his Scioto Valley Archaeological Survey (Prufer 1967).
Acknowledgements
We want to extend our warm thanks to the landowners, Robert and Garnett Harness. Their support and cooperation were essential to a successful field season. For Bob, this represents yet another example of the incredible friendship and generosity he has extended to Ohio archaeologists over the last 40 years.
Distribution of Sites
Settlement Patterns
- The Hopewell built some truly spectacular ritual mound complexes out of sod blocks—the best known is the Newark mound group in Ohio. Some Hopewell mounds were conical, some were geometric or effigies of animals or birds. Some of the groups were enclosed by rectangular or circular sod walls; some may have had a cosmological significance and/or an as...
Hopewell Economy
- At one time, archaeologists thought that anyone who built such mounds must have been farmers: but archaeological exploration has clearly identified the builders of the mounds as horticulturalists, who tended stands of seed crops. They built earthworks, participated in long-distance exchange networks, and only periodically traveled to earthworks for social/ceremonial gatherings. Much of …
Artifacts and Exchange Networks
- Archaeologists still debate how much of the exotic materials found in the mounds and residential areas got there as a result of long-distance trade or as a result of seasonal migrations or long distance travels. But, quite nonlocal artifacts are found in many Hopewell sites, and were manufactured into a variety of ritual objects and tools. 1. Appalachian mountains:Black bear teet…
Status and Class
- It seems inescapable: there is evidence for the presence of an elite class. A few individuals were buried at the earthen mound sites and interred in complex burial mounds, with lots of exotic and imported grave goods, and show evidence of receiving elaborate mortuary. Their bodies were processed in ritual center charnel houses before being buried in mounds with exotic funerary off…
The Rise and Fall of The Hopewell
- The reason why hunter-gatherer/horticulturalists built big earthworks is a puzzle—the earliest mounds in North America were built by their predecessors, whose archaeological remains are called the American Archaic tradition. Scholars suggest that mound construction occurred as a way to bind small communities together, communities who were mostly confined to waterways, …
Hopewell Archaeology
- Hopewell archaeology began in the early 20th century with the discovery of spectacular artifacts of stone, shell, and copper from mounds in a complex on Mordecai Hopewell's farm on a tributary stream of the Scioto River in southcentral Ohio. Indigenous peoples living in the region today have argued that "Hopewell" is not an acceptable name for the ancient people, but have not as yet ag…
Selected Sources
- Boulanger, Matthew T., et al. "Geochemical Analysis of Mica Source Specimens and Artifacts from the Abbott Farm National Historic Landmark (28ME1)." American Antiquity82.2 (2017): 374–96. Print.
- Emerson, Thomas, et al. "The Allure of the Exotic: Reexamining the Use of Local and Distant Pipestone Quarries in Ohio Hopewell Pipe Caches." American Antiquity78.1 (2013): 48–67. P…
- Boulanger, Matthew T., et al. "Geochemical Analysis of Mica Source Specimens and Artifacts from the Abbott Farm National Historic Landmark (28ME1)." American Antiquity82.2 (2017): 374–96. Print.
- Emerson, Thomas, et al. "The Allure of the Exotic: Reexamining the Use of Local and Distant Pipestone Quarries in Ohio Hopewell Pipe Caches." American Antiquity78.1 (2013): 48–67. Print.
- Giles, Bretton. "A Contextual and Iconographic Reassessment of the Headdress on Burial 11 from Hopewell Mound 25." American Antiquity78.3 (2013): 502–19. Print.
- Herrmann, Edward W., et al. "A New Multistage Construction Chronology for the Great Serpent Mound, USA." Journal of Archaeological Science50.0 (2014): 117–25. Print.
Overview
The Hopewell tradition (also called the Hopewell culture) describes the common aspects of an ancient pre-Columbian Native American civilization that flourished in settlements along rivers in the northeastern and midwestern Eastern Woodlands from 100 BCE to 500 CE, in the Middle Woodland period. The Hopewell tradition was not a single culture or society, but a widely dispersed se…
Origins
Although the origins of the Hopewell are still under discussion, the Hopewell culture can also be considered a cultural climax.
Hopewell populations originated in western New York and moved south into Ohio, where they built upon the local Adena mortuary tradition. Or, Hopewell was said to have originated in western Illinois and spread by diffusion ... to southern Ohio. Similarly, the Havana Hopewell tradition wa…
Although the origins of the Hopewell are still under discussion, the Hopewell culture can also be considered a cultural climax.
Hopewell populations originated in western New York and moved south into Ohio, where they built upon the local Adena mortuary tradition. Or, Hopewell was said to have originated in western Illinois and spread by diffusion ... to southern Ohio. Similarly, the Havana Hopewell tradition wa…
Politics and hierarchy
The Hopewell inherited from their Adena forebears an incipient social stratification. This increased social stability and reinforced sedentism, social stratification, specialized use of resources, and probably population growth. Hopewell societies cremated most of their deceased and reserved burial for only the most important people. In some sites, hunters apparently were given a higher status in the community: their graves were more elaborate and contained more status goods.
Mounds
Today, the best-surviving features of the Hopewell tradition era are earthwork mounds. Researchers have speculated about their purposes and debate continues. Great geometric earthworks are one of the most impressive Native American monuments throughout American prehistory, and were built by cultures following the Hopewell. Eastern Woodlands mounds typically have va…
Artwork
The Hopewell created some of the finest craftwork and artwork of the Americas. Most of their works had some religious significance, and their graves were filled with necklaces, ornate carvings made from bone or wood, decorated ceremonial pottery, ear plugs, and pendants. Some graves were lined with woven mats, mica (a mineral consisting of thin glassy sheets), or stones. The Hopewell produced artwork in a greater variety and with more exotic materials than their pr…
Local expressions of Hopewellian traditions
In addition to the noted Ohio Hopewell, a number of other Middle Woodland period cultures are known to have been involved in the Hopewell tradition and participated in the Hopewell exchange network.
The Armstrong culture was a Hopewell group in the Big Sandy River Valley of northeastern Kentucky and western West Virginia from 1 to 500 CE. They are t…
Cultural decline
Around 500 CE, the Hopewell exchange ceased, mound building stopped, and art forms were no longer produced. War is a possible cause, as villages dating to the Late Woodland period shifted to larger communities; they built defensive fortifications of palisade walls and ditches. Colder climatic conditions could have driven game animals north or west, as weather would have a detrimental effec…
See also
• List of Hopewell sites
• Adena culture