What s Lost Can Be Found Again: Localized Exhibits in Place

After his first community presentation in the year 2001 regarding his then under-construction “EarthWorks” project, John Hancock, professor of architecture and director of the Center for the Reconstruction of Historical and Archaeological Sites (CERHAS) at the University of Cincinnati, has never had any problem predicting the reaction of his audience.

On being confronted for the first time with the vivid visualizations of the region’s spectacular antiquity, “people say the same thing time after time,” Hancock claimed. “They say, ‘I had no idea….”

Residents of the very states where a collective 10,000 earthworks once stood have no clear concept of the scope and size of this lost heritage.

Several museums have already installed portions of “EarthWorks” for permanent display even before the project was completed in mid-2006. Thus, these early, localized segments of the project are already part of a handful of permanent exhibits. They are to be found at

• Moundbuilders State Memorial Park, Newark, Ohio, where a segment featuring the Newark Earthworks went on permanent exhibit in early 2006. It is available for viewing by appointment.

• Fort Ancient Site Museum, Oregonia, Ohio, where a segment featuring the huge, hilltop enclosure (Fort Ancient) went on permanent exhibit in 2005.

• Hopewell Culture National Historical Park, Chillicothe, Ohio, where a select portion of “EarthWorks” pertaining to Scioto River Valley sites was placed on permanent exhibit in 2003.

• The Cincinnati Museum of National History where a select portion pertaining to Little Miami River Valley sites also went on permanent exhibit in 2003.

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