Ohio Mound Builders
September 10-14, 2024
$2,195 per person ($300 single supplement)
Hundreds of years ago in what is now part of southern Ohio, a complex culture of mound builders flourished. Extensive earthworks, some towering six stories high, are the legacy of the Hopewell and Adena people. The Hopewell and Adena cultures, which flourished in the eastern United States from about 800 B.C. to A.D. 400, consisted of rich traditions and elaborate rituals. Mica and copper ornaments, ostentatious burials, and the remains of large wooden structures are often found at their mound sites.
This tour offers an opportunity to discover more about the Hopewell and Adena cultures with visits to some of their most awe-inspiring mounds and earthworks, including a newly designated World Heritage Site. Throughout the tour, expert archaeologists will offer their insights into the mysterious world of the mound builders.
Tour Schedule
Tuesday
Join us in Columbus for a welcome reception.
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September 10
Wednesday
We’ll begin our travels by heading to the reconstructed Sun Watch Village, a 12th century Fort Ancient culture site near Dayton. After that, we’ll visit the Miamisburg Mound, an Adena culture mound that stands nearly 70 feet high. In the afternoon we’ll tour Fort Ancient, the famous Hopewell culture site where the walls are more than ten feet tall. We’ll spend the evening in the northern Cincinnati area.
September 11
L
Thursday
We’ll start the day with a visit to the Fort Salem Earthworks, a Hopewell period mound and circle complex and the 300th archaeological preserve established by the Conservancy. Then we’ll travel to Serpent Mound, a snake effigy mound that stretches more than 1,400 feet and is perhaps the most enigmatic archaeological feature in the United States. After lunch we’ll conclude the day with a trip to Hopewell Culture National Historic Park in Chillicothe. We’ll visit the museum and grounds of Mound City and the Conservancy-rescued Hopewell Earthworks, the largest site of the extraordinary Hopewell culture. If time allows we will make a stop at the nearby Junction Group of earthworks. We’ll spend the night in Columbus.
September 12
L
Friday
We’ll visit Flint Ridge Quarries, the source of a workable stone particularly esteemed by the Hopewell culture, to view the remains of prehistoric mining. We will close our tour by visiting Newark to tour the magnificent Hopewell culture complex that once spread more than seven miles. The site includes a circle and octagon covering more than 100 acres, and a great circle more than 900 feet in diameter and about 10 feet tall. We’ll return to Columbus for a final night downtown.
September 13
L
Saturday
Participants depart for home.
September 14
B
Ohio Mound Builders
Tour Details
Cost includes first-class hotel accommodations based on double occupancy (single supplement is $300), lunches, happy hours, admittance fees, tours, orientations, background reading, and surface travel. Not included are meals other than lunches and travel to and from Columbus.
