UNESCO World Heritage Sites are considered 'outstanding works of human genius.' There are just 24 in the U.S., including the Statue of Liberty and the Grand Canyon.
All the sites were built 1,600 to 2,000 years ago by peoples formerly referred to as Hopewell.
"Fort Ancient is one of the types of earthworks that these people build – it is what we will call a hilltop enclosure. This is the type of earthwork we see mostly in southwest Ohio," he explains."Whereas in south central or eastern Ohio, we see mostly geometric earthworks. Earthworks are in the shapes of circles, squares, or octagons."
"Just the walls alone of this site," Kennedy says of Fort Ancient,"are the equivalent of 125 million basket loads of soil at 30 pounds apiece."It's a pretty easy answer, he jokes.These earthworks were built by Native Americans between 1,600 and 2,000 years ago.It might be unusual to consider huge mounds of dirt as anything significant, however, UNESCO calls the earthworks a"masterpiece of human creative genius.
"They're great civil engineers. They're artists, they're astronomers, mathematicians, and for my people, that's not the way that Shawnee people, or any Indigenous peoples in this country, are typically portrayed in media," he says. Aultman jokes World Heritage status doesn't come with a pot of money at the end of the rainbow, but it could be an economic driver, attracting tourists from around the world to see and experience something so monumental.
United States Latest News, United States Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Ohio's Hopewell Ceremonial Earthworks now a UNESCO World Heritage siteUNESCO World Heritage Sites are considered 'outstanding works of human genius.' There are just 24 in the U.S., including the Statue of Liberty and the Grand Canyon.
Read more »
Governments Ignore UNESCO Recommendation, Fail to Add Venice to List of Endangered World Heritage SitesStatement by Adam Markham, Union of Concerned Scientists
Read more »
World Heritage Committee Ignores UNESCO Recommendation to List Venice as EndangeredWorld Heritage Committee Ignores UNESCO Recommendation to List Venice as Endangered
Read more »
Why is Ohio State called 'The Ohio State University'?If you've ever seen player introductions during an NFL game, you've probably heard someone mention 'The Ohio State University.' But why include the article?
Read more »
Venice won't be listed as one of the world's most endangered sitesUNESCO, the United Nations body that designates and protects World Heritage sites, says it will continue to monitor the famed Italian city's issues, including climate change and over-tourism.
Read more »
Venice avoids being added to UNESCO list of endangered sitesA UNESCO committee has decided not to add Venice to the organisation's World Heritage List in Danger, disregarding a recommendation from experts and sparing the Italian government from an embarrassing verdict on the city's condition.
Read more »