::: Satellite Discoveres- Eye in the Sky :::

::: Ohio earthen embankments show evidence of sophisticated ancient culture

By David Bear, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

Richard Pirko photo This aerial shot of Moundbuilders Country Club in Newark, Ohio, above, reveals the ancient Octagon and Circle, earthen embankments built by Hopewell Indians nearly 2,000 years ago. Click photo for larger image.

NEWARK, Ohio -- On first glance, the circular earthen embankment abutting state Route 79 between a shopping mall and car dealerships isn't particularly awesome.

But consider this: It was created nearly 2,000 years ago, making it among the oldest man-made structures in North America.

But built how, why and by whom? Those are the mysteries of this sprawling grass- and tree-covered mound and others in this bustling central Ohio town.

The massive stone Mayan and Aztec edifices of Mexico and Central America offer irrefutable evidence of the advanced civilizations that existed there long before the Europeans arrived. But these remnants of even older architectural accomplishments lie within a three-hour drive from Pittsburgh.

These mounds have mystified people since Isaac Stadden stumbled on them in October 1800. The early pioneer was hunting deer in the woodlands south of Raccoon Creek, a tributary of the Licking River, when he happened upon this high embankment. Returning the next day with his wife, Stadden explored what turned out to be a perfect circle 1,200 feet in diameter with level-topped walls that ranged between 8 feet and 14 feet high, depending on the outside terrain. A deep ditch ran around the inside walls, enclosing a leveled area of 26 acres, with three small mounds in the center.

Subsequent explorations revealed at least four other major structures spread across four square miles: another circle nearly as large joining an octagon with walls 610 feet long; a square enclosure 930 feet on a side and an even larger oval. Broad avenues defined by low, parallel embankments ran between openings in the geometric structures.

Neither the Staddens nor any of those who came later to marvel at the discoveries could more than guess about who had built them or for what purpose. Even the Native Americans living there could offer no answers.

Apart from small burial mounds inside the oval structure, there were few tangible artifacts to provide clues. Someone had moved more than 7 million cubic feet of dirt with extraordinary dedication and piled it with precision into complicated and exacting shapes.

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::: Ancient Circular Housing- Iran and Arkaim Russia

After viewing many of the strange patterns in the Florida Everglades, Florida Keys, Bahamas, Cuba, and Haiti, I have found that circular shapes exist in many archaeological sites all over the world as some of the very first housing complexes.  Perhaps the circular shape is one of the first documented, sophisticated housing complexes for a significant reason.  It is also acknowledged that Plato's description of the lost capital of Atlantis is a circle within concentric canals.
Circles within circles.
Arkaim Russia, Strange Circles-
Found in Russia on the outskirts of the city of Chelyabinsk there exists a very ancient civilization who lived primarily in apartment type circular rings that some archaeologists have speculated were used as fortification.   This culture has been found to be as old as the ancient city of Babylon.  "Archaeological excavations showed that the people, who inhabited Arkaim, represented one of the most ancient Indo-European civilizations, particularly the branch, which is referred to as the Aryan culture. Arkaim turned out to be not only a town, but also a temple and an astronomic observatory."
The houses of the ancient Arkaims were also quite technologically advanced with similarities to our modern day conveniences such as ovens, water supplies, a very sophisticated climate control system utilizing underground trenches, and bronze smelting ovens indicating a sophisticated grasp of metallurgical processes. Not bad for an ancient Neolithic society.

Ancient Circular Mounds in Iran
Circular mounds and circular housing complexes have also been found in Ancient Iran by Professor Erich F. Schmidt in 1935 utilizing some of the very first aerial surveys of archaeological sites.  Many of the images can be seen here in the Photo Gallery.
The images from the aerial survey are also available in the Oriental Institute of Chicago's online archives