* Astronomy

The US Midwest’s immense earthworks, structures built by ancient Native American cultures, have been all but lost to plough and pavement. No longer. An ambitious effort by the University of Cincinnati has rebuilt the mounds of two millennia ago. These virtual earthworks will soon be set to travel.

Native American cultures that once flourished in Ohio, Kentucky, Indiana and West Virginia constructed geometric and animal-shaped earth works that often rivalled Stonehenge in their astronomical accuracy.
A few are still extant – Serpent Mound in Adams County, Ohio, for example – but most of the region’s ancient architecture was all but squandered. Earthworks, from as early as 600 BC that stretched over miles and rose to heights of 15 feet or more, were either gouged out or ploughed under in the 19th century or paved over for development in the 20th.

But now, this lost heritage from the Adena, Hopewell and Fort Ancient cultures is returning in the form of a travelling exhibit that will include virtual reconstructions of earthworks from 39 sites. The electronic recreations represent nearly ten years of work by an extensive team of architects, archaeologists, historians, technical experts and Native Americans. Project director is John Hancock, professor of architecture at the University of Cincinnati, working in partnership with the Centre for the Reconstruction of Historical and Archaeological Sites (CERHAS) at the University of Cincinnati. The title of the project and the coming travelling exhibit is: “EarthWorks: Virtual Explorations of the Ancient Ohio Valley.”

The “EarthWorks” reconstructions will be the centerpiece within a 500-square-foot travelling exhibit fabricated by the Cincinnati Museum Centre, which is also managing and administrating the national tour. The travelling exhibit will not only feature the electronic reconstructions of ancient earthworks but will also include a graphic timeline wall with cross cultural comparisons; a giant map wall of the Ohio River Valley (from the approximate location of Pittsburgh to Louisville) indicating placement of Native American earthworks; panels with diagrams, photos and text; and 3-D topographic models of five earthwork sites.
The exhibit opens June 20, 2006, at the Cincinnati Museum Centre. It remains at the museum centre till Sept. 7, 2006. Discussions are underway for national exhibits over the next three years.

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