The Milky Way Path of Souls and Adena-Hopewell Earthworks

What I wish to show in this presentation is how certain Hopewell sites may have been connected to each other through religion and mythology. The relevance of this to Chaco and the discussion at hand is not in the listing of specific attributes held in common; but rather, in the recognition of large-scale site entanglements and connections found in both cultures . David Killick (2015:161): “Telling stories about the past is an essential part of the craft of archaeology.” Killick, David 2015 Using Evidence From Natural Sciences in Archaeology. In Material Evidence: Learning From Archaeological Practice, edited by Robert Chapman and Alison Wylie, pp. 159-172. Routledge, London. “Without narratives archaeological reports would simply be catalogues of finds and their classifications.” Killick, David 2015 Using Evidence From Natural Sciences in Archaeology. In Material Evidence: Learning From Archaeological Practice, edited by Robert Chapman and Alison Wylie, pp. 159-172. Routledge, London. That said, this is a story of what the Hopewell may have believed happens after death…. Key elements of the Death Journey are outlined by George Lankford and Kent Reilly III. The story goes something like this…Whereas a person’s mortal remains stayed in the grave; for the soul, death marked the beginning of a journey to the Land of the Dead, or Land of the Ancestors. George Lankford - “The realm of the dead is far to the south, and it can only be reached by walking the Path of Souls, the Milky Way across the night sky. To get to the Path, however, one must leave the earth-disk and enter the celestial realm.” Obstacles on the Path of Souls included a giant raptor or other judgmental entity. …and sometimes a river that the soul had to cross (e.g., Swanton 1946). If the soul makes it past these obstacles, it next encounters the Great Serpent – Guardian of the Land of the Dead. If the soul made it past the Serpent, it joined the Ancestors in the Land of the Dead. For some people the journey to the Land of Spirit started at the earthworks located in Newark, Ohio. Located in central Ohio. Several major earthwork features (five to be considered here): 1. Octagon and Observatory Circle This earthwork has multiple lunar alignments – perhaps placing the context for the Path of Souls journey in the night sky and/or Lowerworld. 2. Newark Great Circle. This earthwork is also lunar aligned – but in this case to the moon’s minimum north rise (18.6 years). Photo showing actual alignment…. Analysis reveals summer solstice sunset alignment between Great Circle and Observatory Circle-Octagon. 3. Ellipse earthwork – mapped by Salisburys in 1862. 4. Great Hopewell Road – which I propose was an earth analogue for the Milky Way Path of Souls. Still visible in some areas…. Using old aerial photos we can trace the Road as far as Ramp Creek. ….about 2 ½ miles Through LiDAR analysis we can establish that the Road extends along an azimuth of 210.5 degrees. Archaeoastronomic analysis shows that during Hopewell times, the GHR was aligned to the Milky Way on the evening of the summer solstice sunset. Milky Way is a band of stars…. or a Path of Light On the evening of the summer solstice during Hopewell times, the Milky Way became visible in the northeast at an azimuth of about 30 degrees. Looking the other way, to the southwest, the Milky Way arches across the sky and down to the horizon at 210 degrees. If we plot this….. Further, the Milky Way Path is orthogonal to summer solstice sunset. These celestial directions are embedded in the layout of Newark. Together, these alignments reference a particular moment or window in time – just after sunset, on the day of the summer solstice, every 9.3 years – when the moon is at its max north or min north position. The significance of this is that, in Native American belief, the Milky Way is identified almost universally as the “Path of Souls” – that is the path the soul must travel to reach the Land of the Dead. This belief is recorded for: Ojibway, Fox, Sauk, Menomini, Miami, Delaware, Shawnee, Cheyenne, Huron, Iroquois, Oglala, Osage, Omaha, Caddo, Pawnee, Chickasaw, Creek, and others. As a Spirit Road, the GHR and Milky Way Path link This World to the Otherworld. At Newark we can speculate that perhaps that the soul began its journey in the following way…. The Eagle Mound is located in center of Great Circle. Excavation of the Eagle Mound in the 1920s found a crematory basin in the approximate center of the mound, at its base. We also know that the Newark Ellipse was associated with mortuary events based on the multiple burials and mounds found within. 11 burial mounds + in center mound a “tier of skeletons” – major burial ground We also know that the earthworks were linked by pathways. If used by souls (perhaps accompanied by living processions), then souls might have traveled to the west before making the leap to the Milky Way Path (Great Hopewell Road). Every 9.3 years – sun, moon, and earth were in proper alignment for the movement of souls. Where did the Road go to? 50 miles GHR trajectory plotted using last known location and known azimuth. GHR intersects Sugarloaf Mountain – i.e., a visually distinctive mountain at the center of the Hopewell world. 9 sites are linked to Sugarloaf along celestial azimuths. Significance of Sugarloaf Mountain is that it provided an axis mundi linking This World to the Celestial World. Mound City is located across the Scioto River southwest of Sugarloaf. Community of souls….minimum of 23 burial mounds. The site is aligned to both the summer solstice sunset and Milky Way trajectory. In addition to diagonal alignment, a second connection to Milky Way is that the constellation Cygnus and star Deneb would have been seen over Sugarloaf Mountain on night of summer solstice. Moreover, at midnight on the summer solstice, Cygnus and Deneb were due east of Mound City. Cygnus and Deneb azimuths relative to Mound City at sunset and midnight on night of summer solstice A.D. 100. Significance is that looking due east from Mound City, the Milky Way splits into two ‘paths. The place where the split occurs is known as the Great Rift. The location of the Great Rift is marked by the star known as Deneb…. …and the star constellation, Cygnus. North Benton mound excavated in 1940. 75 feet diameter, 6 feet in height Found within the mound was an elaborate burial chamber that included a bird effigy made of stones. North Benton effigy may represent a Trumpeter Swan. These birds were known to Hopewell…. What made them special was their white color and size. Largest bird in Eastern Woodlands – 10 ft. wingspan. Recall that in the Path of Souls story the soul had to pass by a celestial gatekeeper….a giant bird, old woman, or brain smasher. According to Lankford, “the outcome of a test by this entity determines the fate or destination of the soul.” Pass the test and proceed to Land of Dead; Fail the test and go directly to oblivion. Is it possible that the star constellation Cygnus represents this judgmental entity? Effigy is oriented due east in direction of Cygnus with an extended burial on each wing. If burials were to stand-up they would be looking directly at Cygnus. Next I wish to explain why (following Lankford) I believe Serpent Mound was a cognate for the mythic Great Serpent. Recall that the Great Serpent guards the Land of the Dead. Built by Early Woodland people: 350 – 300 BC most likely age 350 – 300 BC Analysis by Bill Monaghan and Tim Schilling Serpent Mound Project Team Bill Monaghan Ed Herrmann Matt Purtill Tim Schilling Jarrod Burks Al Tonetti Karen Leone Several observations support Serpent Mound as a cognate for the Great Serpent that guards the entrance to the Land of the Dead; and indeed marks an entrance to the Lower World… 1. Mythology of the Serpent. Great Serpent was master of the Below World (Emerson, Penny, Lankford, Reilly, et al.). Based on ethnographic accounts, Willoughby, Lankford, Romain and others have proposed that the Serpent Mound represents the Great Serpent of Native American legend. 2. Resemblance to Serpent emerging from Below World 3. Location on Brush Creek; with rivers as entrances to Lowerworld. 4. Location within Serpent Mound Impact Crater. View from the south. Resulted in extraordinary landscape with uplifts + downdrops. Thus Serpent Mound is located in unusual, or liminal area. 5. Multiple springs with springs considered as Lowerworld entrances. 6. Located in a karst region known for its caves. Caves and fissures - west side of Serpent Mound promontory. Caves and fissures are entrances to Lowerworld. 7. Association with sinkholes. Sinkholes (like cenotes) provide access to Lowerworld. middle sinkhole We know these are sinkholes from ERGI results: e.g., collapsed cave beneath middle sinkhole 8. Multiple burials associated with Serpent effigy – as appropriate for Land Of the Dead. Conical burial mound…. 9. Solar Alignments: head and tail alignments point to solstice sunset directions – i.e., Land of the Dead. 10. Alignment to Scorpius. Many Native American tribes identified the celestial aspect of the Great Serpent with the star constellation we call Scorpius. Among the Native American tribes who recognized Scorpius as the Great Serpent were the Pawnee, Cherokee, Chickasaw, and Ojibway. Scorpius is located at the end of Milky Way in the southern sky. View of night sky at 9:00 pm on night of summer solstice (AD 100). Summer solstice view with Scorpius highlighted. At sunset on the night of the summer solstice, Serpent Mound is directly aligned to Scorpius. Here, Scorpius and Libra are combined as might have been seen by the Moundbuilders. To make sense of body convolutions, we need to place the Serpent in the sky, with the coils providing us with rotational perspective. Scorpius is a summer constellation. In March it is still below the horizon. In April, the head of the Serpent is seen rising, with first convolution marking that event. In May the Serpent rises higher – with second convolution marking that position. The rise of Scorpius and rotation continues through the summer with each convolution marking a relative position. So that each position references an aspect of the orientation of Scorpius. Continuing the sequence…. …until August when Scorpius just creases the horizon. And finally, to where Scorpius is once again, below the horizon (with bisection of last convolution referencing same). What we have is a cosmogram telling us that, when the effigy is aligned to the summer solstice sunset then, it will also point to the celestial form of the Great Serpent known as Scorpius located due south. Recall that Scorpius guards the entrance to the Land of the Dead at the far end of the Milky Way Path of Souls. But wait…that’s not all. Viewed from Sugarloaf Mountain at midnight on the summer solstice, Scorpius appears in the southwestern sky at an azimuth of 225.9 degrees. When we plot the location of Serpent Mound it is found that Serpent Mound is located 37 miles to the southwest of Sugarloaf Mountain – on the same 225.9 degree azimuth as Scorpius. Thus Scorpius and Serpent Mound are in the same direction when viewed from the Sugarloaf Mountain axis mundi – i.e., one form of the Great Serpent is on the ground, while the other is in the night sky. But both are in precisely the same direction relative to Sugarloaf. On more thing…according to many stories, another obstacle the soul must successfully negotiate is a river (Swanton 1946). As it happens, the Sugarloaf-Scorpius Milky Way trajectory intersects the Scioto River at Chillicothe, near Mound City. Putting the pieces-parts together….. As individuals died, they were provided with appropriate mortuary ceremony…. Often times people were buried with others and mound size increased until at some point, the addition of burials stopped. At that time, the mound was capped. For people buried at Newark… Every 9.3 years the sun, moon, earth and stars aligned in an auspicious relationship. earth When this occurred it was time to begin the journey to the Land of Ancestors. The journey began in the direction of the summer solstice sunset. Having crossed from Earth, the next phase was to follow the Milky Way Path of Souls. To a point in the night sky where the soul the Path split into two – marked by the axis mundi. Along the way the soul had to pass by a celestial gatekeeper….an old woman, brain smasher, or giant bird. …and the soul had to successfully cross a river. At the end of the Milky Way Path a Great Serpent guarded the Land of the Dead. If the soul made it past all the obstacles then it joined the Ancestors. Thus for the Moundbuilders, the most important journey of their lives may have been the one after death. By incorporating the Path of Souls myth into the earthworks, the story was forever memorialized. In this view, living people were connected to their Ancestors and to their final fates through earthworks, mythologies, and cosmic trajectories. In this understanding, ‘everything was connected.’