- Ohio History in 2000 Words
- Mound Builders
- Native Ohioans
- The Ohio Company
- Ohio's Wood Forts
- Indian Wars
- War of 1812
- Ohio's Canals
- Ohio's Road
- Scenic Railroads / Museums
- Underground Railroad
- Civil War in Ohio
When Ephraim George Squier arrived at the estate of John Woodbridge, Esq. of Chillicothe, he must have been heart broken. Much of this giant earthwork could still be seen, especially the large rectangular burial mound in the center of the Giant Circle. Unfortunately, most of the earthwork had been degraded from farming the rich soil along Paint Creek as well as periodic flooding from that same creek. Yet the distinct outline of the circular walls and the 1800' square. After taking careful measurements, he found earthwork wall would total almost 2 miles in length. Year later the land would be purchased by Charles Seip, a businessman in Chillicothe.
This site would be one of the truly remarkable earthworks the 25 year old Squier had the privilege of surveying. As a result of his survey, we are still today able to identify certain areas of the earthworks. In time it is hoped that the entire site, including the mounds, will be reconstructed so visitors of the future will appreciate the scale and majesty the Hopewell society created here.
The Seip Earthworks located just west of Chillicothe was one of the largest earthworks in the country. The burial mound in the center of the large survey map (above) is 250' long, 150' wide and 30' tall, or about the same size as a 3 story building that would nearly filled a football field. Two Great Pyramids could fit inside the large rectangular earthwork. The smaller earthwork to the left could hold 6 of England's Stonehenge.
Several different excavations have revealed that prehistoric Indian buildings existed near the earthworks. Today, visitors can see the location of some of these buildings as they are outlined by short posts in the ground. The Hopewell Culture (100 BC-AD 500) built Seip Mound for burials. This culture had a highly developed craft industry, as is evidenced by artifacts found with bodies in the burial site.
Around this central burial mound, massive earthen walls that were in some places as high as 10 feet. Yet, it does not appear that these walls were meant for protection for outside forces. They seem to be symbolic and strangely similar to other earthworks found throughout Ohio. The meaning of these symbols has been lost and unless something extraordinary is discovered at some time in the future, we will never know their original purpose. Everything written today about these structures is complete conjecture.
The yellow area is all that remains of the earthworks and the large burial mound. The rest was destroyed by years of farming. However, all of the land that encompassed this massive earthwork has been purchased and plans are being considered on the best way to preserve and restore the site for future generations.
The first major excavations of the Seip Earthworks were between 1906 and 1903. While digging the 3 conjoined mounds (just to the northeast of the largest mound), William Mills of the Ohio Historical Society found a total of 48 burials. Besides the remains Mills found numerous objects made from copper, mica, bone, shell, and pearls. These Ohio Historical Society archeologists found 122 burials beneath the mound and 7 more interned into the top.
In 1966, the Ohio Historical Society examined for the first time part of the earth embankment and the unexcavated portion of the large mound as well as making several test excavations in the area between the mound and the outer wall. The work provided valuable information on the construction of both the embankment and the mound. Through this excavation there were indications that Hopewell Indians lived for a short periods of time within the enclosure itself.
In 1971, another team of archaeologists sponsored jointly by the Ohio Historical Society and the Ohio State University discovered the impressions of posts from a Hopewell house nearly 2000 years old. Today at the site, you can see where these original posts were located where modern posts were placed in the ground on the same location and size of the original posts. The house measured 38.5' long and 35' wide. Based on the configuration of the posts found, it probably looked similar to a Quonset hut.
Despite the degraded condition of the site, many artifacts have been preserved and saved for posterity. The central mound at the center of the great circle is the third largest burial mound known to have been constructed by the Hopewell culture. It measures 240 feet by 160 feet and is 30 feet high.
Most of the artifacts were either taken away by early explorers or were destroyed. A few tantalizing artifacts have been recovered to date including the clay Seip Head (above) on display at the Ohio History Connection in Columbus. There were also a few intact pieces of cloth with a circular pattern.
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