Newark Octagon Earthworks (Ohio)
The Newark Octagon Earthworks, built by the Hopewell culture (100 BCE–400 CE), form a precise 50-acre geometric complex aligned with the moon’s 18.6-year cycle. Recognized as a UNESCO World Heritage Site (2023), they prove Indigenous North America’s mastery of astronomy, geometry, and sacred landscape design.
9/10/20251 min read
📜 Newark Octagon Earthworks (Ohio)
In the heart of Ohio lies one of the world’s most sophisticated ancient astronomical monuments—the Newark Octagon Earthworks, built by the Hopewell culture between 100 BCE and 400 CE. Covering more than 50 acres, the Octagon consists of an eight-sided enclosure connected to a vast circular earthwork by parallel walls, forming a precise geometric complex that could only be fully understood from above.
What makes the Octagon extraordinary is its astronomical alignment. Researchers have shown that its central axis tracks the northernmost rise of the moon during its 18.6-year cycle, a feat of calculation rivaling Stonehenge and the pyramids of Giza. This means Hopewell engineers not only observed the lunar standstill but built a permanent calendar into the landscape itself, linking earth, sky, and ceremony.
The Newark complex originally spanned more than four square miles, making it the largest geometric earthwork site in the world. In addition to the Octagon, it included parallel walls, mounds, and other enclosures, suggesting it was both a ceremonial center and a gathering place for regional communities.
Much of the earthworks were destroyed by centuries of farming and urban development, but the Octagon and Circle survive. Controversially, part of the Octagon has been used as a golf course since the late 19th century, though Native leaders continue to call for full recognition and protection of this sacred space.
In 2023, the Newark Earthworks were inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List as part of the “Hopewell Ceremonial Earthworks,” honoring them as sites of global significance. They stand as undeniable testimony that Indigenous peoples of North America mastered advanced geometry, astronomy, and sacred architecture long before colonization.
References:
Ohio History Connection, Newark Earthworks
Hively, R. & Horn, R. (1982), Geometry and Astronomy in Prehistoric Ohio
UNESCO World Heritage Centre, Hopewell Ceremonial Earthworks (2023)