National Parks of ChinaOverview
| Designation | UNESCO World Heritage (cultural, 2023) |
| Name | Hopewell Ceremonial Earthworks |
| Country | United States of America |
| Nearby cities | Chicago, Washington, DC, Detroit |
| Nearby sites | Mammoth Cave National Park, Great Smoky Mountains National Park, Cuyahoga Valley National Park, Indiana Dunes National Park, Shenandoah National Park, Monticello and the University of Virginia in Charlottesville |
| Latitude, longitude | 39.24, -83.22 Google Maps |
About
Hopewell Ceremonial Earthworks was inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List in 2023 as a cultural site.
Why it was inscribed
The World Heritage Committee found that it meets criteria (i), (iii) of the ten selection criteria:
(i) a masterpiece of human creative genius.
(iii) a unique or at least exceptional testimony to a cultural tradition or to a civilization which is living or which has disappeared.
Description (UNESCO World Heritage Centre)
This property is a series of eight monumental earthen enclosure complexes built between 2,000 and 1,600 years ago along the central tributaries of the Ohio River. They are the most representative surviving expressions of the Indigenous tradition now referred to as the Hopewell culture. Their scale and complexity are evidenced in precise geometric figures as well as hilltops sculpted to enclose vast, level plazas. There are alignments with the cycles of the Sun and the far more complex cycles of the Moon. These earthworks served as ceremonial centres and the sites have yielded finely crafted ri