A Grassroots EffortThe Newark Earthworks, located about 30 miles east of Columbus, in the city of Newark, is the world’s largest set of geometric earthen enclosures. It was built nearly 2,000 years ago, between 100 B.C. and A.D. 500 by the Hopewell Indians using sticks, clamshells and baskets to sculpt millions of cubic feet of dirt into walls of earth forming a huge lunar observatory sprawling over several miles. Although the Earthworks was named a National Historic Landmark in 1964, the site has, until recently, languished in quiet obscurity. In the 1800s, many of the rambling mounds were destroyed by development and farming.
Dr. Ray Hively, professor of astronomy, and Dr. Robert Horn, professor of philosophy at Earlham College in Indiana, discovered in the 1980s that the mounds aligned perfectly with the cyclical movements of the earth and moon. The Octagon, they maintain, aligns perfectly with the intricate 18.6-year cycle of the moon, making it twice as precise as Stonehenge as a lunar observatory.
The National Park Service has the Earthworks on its short list to be sent to the United Nations for designation as a World Heritage Site. There are currently 851 World Heritage Sites designated by UNESCO, the United Nations Education, Scientific and Cultural Organization.Comment: The Newark Earthworks aren't to be confused with Chaco Canyon, which is also called "America's Stonehenge."
5 comments:
Writerfella here --
Oh, please, if there are any Native structures that qualify as 'America's Stonehenge,' they are the stone and fiber 'prayer wheels' that exist in five areas of the Plains states. These are far older than Chaco Canyon and actually are as old as the Mounds of the southeastern states, Oklahoma included. And what of the 'Piasa Bird' petroglyphs along the Mississippi River? Even the 'Newspaper Rocks' outdistance Chaco Canyon by hundreds of years. That at least should wake somebody up...
All Best
Russ Bates
'writerfella'
There is also a stone medicine wheel on Beaver Island in Lake Michigan.
I'd not heard of the Piasa Bird before, and it is in my area of interest. I found this page concerning it, and would be interested in better information.
I think the "America's Stonehenge" label requires 1) monumental size and 2) astronomical predictors. Being old isn't enough, though it helps.
A medicine or prayer wheel is large, but it's more two-dimensional than three-dimensional, so it isn't quite monumental. And although its lines many point to astronomical phenomena, they don't define astronomical phenomena in 3D. At Stonehenge and other ancient "observatories," the sun or Venus typically shines in a certain notch or hole once a year.
The original Newspaper Rock is kind of big, but I don't think it pinpoints any specific astronomical phenomena. Individual petroglyphs are neither monumental nor astronomical, so they don't qualify. They may depict an astronomical event, but they don't tell us when and where it's going to happen.
There may other candidates for "America's Stonehenge," but Chaco Canyon and Newark's Earthworks are two of the best. Since Chaco probably has the most astronomical indicators, it may be the best candidate.
Chaco is also a series of rock walls rather than earthen lumps, which is another factor in its favor. America's Stonehenge should be made of stone, shouldn't it?
Writerfella here --
That only would be for the same reason that European 'Woodhenges' mostly have vanished because of the ephemeral nature of their materials. Given the arbitrary nature of 'monument' construction vs. survival of such 'monuments,' stonehenges have lasted because they were made of stone, whereas woodhenges (yes, Virginia, there is such a term) have disintegrated over time. What is left from the Bronze Age as any kind of monument? And in 5,000 years, what will be left from the Steel Age? One shudders to think what will be left from the Atomic Age...
All Best
Russ Bates
'writerfella'
Writerfella here --
The 'Piasa Bird' first was reported by Joliet and Marquette in their journals about explorations of the Mississippi and Missouri Rivers. On a huge, 600-foot high cliff above the Mississippi once existed a gigantc and magnificent and colorful rendering of a fearsome winged, two-headed beast. Like a dragon with lion's feet, bearded toothy jaws, fiery eyes, pterodactyl-like wings, and spiked twin tails. The Native expedition guides inquired of the local Natives as to the origins of the painting and were told that it represented a warning about a beast that rampaged along the river to the north of that spot. On that basis, the Native guides refused to take the expedition any further north at all and Joliet-Marquette were forced to return to New Orleans. The following spring, with new guides attached, the expedition returned and that time were told by the local Natives that the beast had been killed during the winter. Thus the expedition continued on and the exploration of two rivers was accomplished. Yet, in Jolet-Marquette's writings, the priest and the adventurer both expressed doubt that the painting had been accomplshed by the 'savages.' Instead, they speculated that some wandering French master artist must have passed through and so it was he who rendered the painting. The painting could not be denied because they saw it but they did the next best thing, and that was to deny its origins...
Now, how's that for further information? writerfella even performed an episode of KOLCHAK: THE NIGHT STALKER based on this historical happenstance, where in modern Native miltants recover the spells and incantations and sacred objects that once were used to call the creature out of 'The Great Darkness.' And they control it and begin to use it to eliminate anyone who stands in the way of their political, um, er, uh... aims. They kill an old Native medicine man and steal his medicine objects and his grandson comes to Kolchak to reveal what is happening...
All Best
Russ Bates
'writerfella'
All Best
Russ Bates
'writerfella
Post a Comment