Several sites in Ohio are poised to join the extremely prestigious UNESCO World Heritage List, with more than 1000 other properties around the globe, including the Pyramids of Giza, the Great Wall of China, Australia’s Great Barrier Reef, and Stonehenge. World Heritage inscription is based on stringent criteria, and signifies outstanding universal value to humanity. Making the list helps ensure a site’s permanent preservation, enhanced understanding, deeper appreciation, and increased tourism.
Oregonia, Ohio, Warren County, Ohio – The Ohio House and Senate passed identical resolutions supporting a United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) World Heritage Site nomination for the Hopewell Ceremonial Earthworks at Ft. Ancient.
Also included in the nomination are the Hopewell Ceremonial Earthworks, located in, Ross County, and Licking County They are described as being the epicenter of a vibrant American Indian culture that lived in Ohio approximately 2,000 years ago.
These sites were ceremonial and social centers, characterized by enormous earthwork constructions that feature precise geometric shapes, standard units of measure, accurate alignments to the rising and setting of the sun and moon, and deposits of artifacts of exceptional artistic merit crafted from exotic raw materials obtained from as far away as the coast of the Atlantic Ocean and the Rocky Mountains.
The Ohio sites are currently listed as National Historic Landmarks and are owned and managed by the Ohio History Connection. Read more about the Hopewell Ceremonial Earthworks.
Three nominations in Ohio are among 20 currently on the “US Tentative List” from which nominees will be drawn to go forward for inscription in the coming years. Efforts are now underway to prepare the Hopewell Ceremonial Earthworks to go forward; while Serpent Mound and the Dayton Aviation Sites will follow afterwards.
Ft. Ancient is a short drive up I-71 or U.S. 22 along the eastern shore of the Little Miami River. The site and museum are at 6123 St. Rt. 350 in Oregonia. 513–932–4421 or 1–800–283–8904.
