Archaeologist at CRF Museum series

The Cleo Redd Fisher Museum’s Speaker Series will resume Monday, Feb. 10 at 7 p.m. with Ohio’s top archaeologist joining the museum.

The topic of the night will be The Newark Earthworks: One of the World’s Ancient Wonders, with speaker Dr. Brad Lepper.

The Newark Earthworks in Newark and Heath consist of three sections of preserved earthworks: the Great Circle Earthworks, the Octagon Earthworks and the Wright Earthworks. This complex, built by the Hopewell culture between 100 B.C. and 400 A.D., contains the largest earthen enclosures in the world and was about 3,000 acres in total extent while using more than 7 million cubic feet of earth.

These earthworks have been designated as a National Historic Landmark, as the official prehistoric monument of the State of Ohio and most recently as a UNESCO World Heritage site, along with the Hopewell Culture National Historical Park and Fort Ancient sites, forming the Hopewell Ceremonial Earthworks.

Why did the Hopewell build such monumental works? Were they prehistoric forts or ancient American cathedrals? Find out the answers and more from Lepper, the senior archaeologist for the Ohio History Connection’s World Heritage Program.

Lepper’s primary areas of interest include the Ice Age peoples of North America, Ohio’s mounds and earthworks, and the history of North American archaeology. He has written extensively on these subjects and is the author of a book on Ohio archaeology published in 2005.

Research includes the excavation of the Burning Tree mastodon in December 1989, named one of the top 50 science discoveries of 1990 by Discover magazine in its January 1991 issue, and the discovery of the Great Hopewell Road, first reported in 1995 (see Archaeology magazine, November/December 1995). Lepper’s research on the Great Hopewell Road was featured in the public television documentary “Searching for the Great Hopewell Road,” first broadcast in April 1998.

This program is made possible, in part, by Ohio Humanities and the National Endowment for the Humanities. Any views, findings, conclusions or recommendations expressed in this program do not necessarily represent those of Ohio Humanities, the National Endowment for the Humanities or the Cleo Redd Fisher Museum.

The Speaker Series will continue with Doing Time in Shawshank: Behind the Scenes in March and Statues, Flags and the Ongoing Battle Over the Meaning of the Civil War in April.

All the events are held in the Cleo Redd Fisher Museum, 203 E. Main St., Loudonville, and are free to attend. Doors will open at 6:30 p.m. with the events beginning at 7 p.m. For more information on the museum or the series, visit www.crfmuseum.com or call the office at 419-994-4050.