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Hopewell Culture National Historical Park is located in Chillicothe, Ohio on State Route 104, two miles north of US 35. The park is open daily March - November. During December - February it is closed on Mondays and Tuesdays. It is also closed on Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year's day. The park is open from 8:30AM - 5:00PM. There are extended hours in the summer, I'm not sure how late it's open. I guess it closes at dark.
The mounds at Hopewell Culture National Historical Park were bulit by, you guessed it, the Hopewell Indians. Until the late 1840's scientists and historians did not know who built these mounds. The Native Americans living in the area, mainly the Shawnee, did not know who built the mounds so it was assumed that a lost race built them. However, through scientific studies it was determined that the Hopewell built them 2,200 - 1,500 years ago!
The Hopewell settled along riverbanks throughout the midwest. They were hunters and gatherers. They were named after Captain Mordecai Hopewell. He owned a farm were a major earthworks (group of mounds) were excavated in 1891.
The Hopewell did not live by the mounds. They were built to bury their dead. The dead were buried with ceremonial objects, such as statues and beads made out of bone, shell, copper, and stone.
There used to be more mounds at this site and at other sites throughout the midwest, however, a lot of the mounds were destroyed by farming and building.
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