 If someone
told you that a road 60 miles long, defined by earthen mound
walls, replete with ceremonial circles like rest-stops existed
during prehistoric times in Ohio, you might dismiss the poor
fool as having an over- active imagination. But such is not the
product of some fevered brain. Building a 90-kilometer highway
was no simple feat 2,500years ago. It required massive organizational
efforts, especially in the construction of walls a meter high
covering much of the distance.
The ancient road runs between present-day Newark and Chil- licothe,
Ohio, just west of Lan- caster, some 200 feet (over 60 meters)
in width.
In Yucatan, the Maya sacbeob (roads connecting various
cere- monial and sacred sites) are well known. In the last years
of Toltec domination, such roads were commonplace. Similarly,
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southwestern Anasazi constructed
sacred roads and pathways between their most important places
of pilgrimage. In Europe, the Celtic Islands, Greece, India and
China, sacred pathways stretched for miles to connect various
ancient sites. These were the lung mei, ley lines, shaman
trails, fairy paths, spirit paths, divining lines, etc. Often
these roads are so antique that the sites they connect have been
built over by succeeding cultures twice or three times.
The Ohio road has a very special meaning for Western archaeologists,
however, because it is pre-Anasazi and pre-Maya. Implications
to mainstream schools of archaeological thought spark a paradigm
change, regarding Amerindian prehistory. In fact, the Great Hopewell
Road is a breathtaking phenomenon of engineering skill that may
well have been the very source of inspi- |
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ration for both the Maya and Anasazi planners.
The classical Hopewell mysteriously disappeared about the same
time the classical Maya and the Anasazi cultures arose. Mere
coincidence?
Dr. Bradley T. Lepper is a curator of archaeology and archaeological
coordinator for the Ohio Historical Society in Columbus, and
has been involved in researching the road for the last several
years. In his widely shown video about the site, Dr. Lepper's
enthusiasm for the Road is inspirational and infectious.
Representing the Ohio Historical Society, his efforts initiated
the long overdue process of bringing the state's priceless antiquities
public recognition. His Great Hopewell Road stretches from the
Newark Earthworks (east and slightly north of Columbus), south
and slight
Hopewell Highway... Page
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