In Ohio alone there were three outstanding kinds or cultures of
Mound-builders, besides several less important ones. These three are
known as the Fort Ancient, the Adena and the Hopewell cultures, taking
their names from the places where their Mounds were first examined and
identified. The Fort Ancient peoples were the least advanced of the
three, yet they were the most numerous and prosperous of the prehistoric
peoples of Ohio. Their old village-sites are numerous in the southern
half of the State, as at the Baum, Gartner and Feurt sites, and always
are accompanied by burial Mounds and cemeteries. A number of them have
been explored by the Ohio State Museum where the relics are on display.
They used no metals and had but little art, but they made many useful,
practical things of flint, stone, bone, shell, clay and wood.
Adena peoples were more highly advanced than the Fort Ancient but were
not nearly so numerous. They worked copper into ornaments and were
highly artistic in carving stone and bone. They are noted for their
large shapely mounds, the great Miamisburg Mound being an example.
[Illustration: Fig. 6—The Seip Group of Earthworks, Ross County,
Ohio.]
The Hopewell peoples were not only the most highly advanced in Ohio, but
in many respects in the entire country north of Mexico. They are noted
for their many mounds, usually occurring in groups, and for the peculiar
earthworks or enclosures in groups, earlier in this booklet. These
earthworks or enclosures are known as “Geometric Enclosures,” because
they are built in geometric forms, such as circles, squares, crescents,
and so forth. They differ from the fortifications in that they were used
for social and religious purposes rather than for defense. Important
examples of Hopewell works are the Hopewell Group, in Ross County; the
Mound City Group, within Camp Sherman, Chillicothe; the Seip Group, near
Bainbridge, Ross County; the great works at Newark, the Marietta works,
and others. The Mound City, the Newark and the Seip Groups are now State
Memorials and those at Marietta are preserved by local interests.