The First Highways · Episode 10 of 12 · 22 min
Two Thousand Years Deep: Hopewell and Poverty Point
Two thousand years ago, Yellowstone obsidian and Gulf shark teeth were carried into Ohio earthworks, and Poverty Point reached just as far a thousand years earlier, before farming. The episode then turns to the 19th-century Mound Builder myth, which credited a vanished race, and the 1894 Smithsonian report that overturned it.
Who's who
- Thomas Jefferson+10 more episodesexcavated a Virginia burial mound in the 1780s and credited Native ancestors
- Cyrus Thomas+1 more episodeSmithsonian archaeologist whose 1894 report credited Native Americans with the mounds
Where it happens
- Hopewell Ceremonial Earthworks, Ohioeight earthwork complexes, UNESCO site since 2023
- Poverty Point, Louisiana+3 more episodesLate Archaic earthwork center built without agriculture
- Obsidian Cliff, Yellowstone, Wyomingsource of obsidian found in Ohio mounds
Timeline
- c. 1700 BCEmonumental construction begins at Poverty Point
- c. 100 BCEHopewell ceremonial exchange intensifies in Ohio and Illinois
- 1780sJefferson excavates a mound and attributes it to Native ancestors
- 1881Smithsonian creates a Division of Mound Exploration under Cyrus Thomas
- 1894Thomas publishes his report concluding Native Americans built the mounds
- 2014Poverty Point named a UNESCO World Heritage Site
Still debated
Calling Hopewell exchange a trade network may mislead, since there is little sign of markets or merchants. Many archaeologists favor pilgrimage, gift exchange, or expeditions to sacred sources.
← PreviousCahokia: The Metropolis on the RiverNext →Blue-Water Nations: Taino Seaways and the Northern Canoe
Connected episodes in other series
When the River Won: The Fall of Cahokia & the Mound Builder MythHigher Ground: America's Mound Builders · Episode 7Also features Cyrus Thomas
How Jefferson and Madison Wrote Religious Freedom Into American LawA Wall of Separation · Episode 2Also features Thomas Jefferson
How the General Store Trapped Its Customers in DebtFrom the Trading Post to Amazon · Episode 1Also features Thomas Jefferson
The Militia and the Meeting House: Colonial Militias and the First ObjectorsGreeting: America and the Draft · Episode 2Also features Thomas Jefferson