Hopewell

Hopewell refers to a prehistoric Native American culture and to several modern places in the United States that bear the name. The Hopewell culture, or Hopewell tradition, was a broad set of related communities in the eastern Woodlands that flourished roughly between 200 BCE and 500 CE. It is best known for its large, complex earthworks and burial mounds, as well as for intricate ceremonial centers and an extensive trade network.

Archaeology links the Hopewell culture to a wide geographic area centered in the Ohio River Valley, with outlying sites in the Great Lakes and across parts of the Midwest and Atlantic Seaboard. Hopewell communities produced distinctive decorated pottery and stone, copper items, shell beads, obsidian, and other exotic goods. The earthworks range from enclosed geometric rings to large amphitheater-like structures, reflecting sophisticated social organization and ceremonial life. The culture was named after the Hopewell Mound Group near Newark, Ohio, where a mound described by early archaeologists gave its name to the tradition. By about 500 CE, Hopewell communities dispersed, and later Mississippian developments in some areas represented a shift in regional traditions, though Hopewell influence persisted in subsequent Woodland practices.

In contemporary geography, the name Hopewell is used for multiple towns and townships in the United States, including communities in Virginia, New Jersey, and Ohio, among others. The term remains widely used in archaeology to describe the cultural traits and artifact styles associated with the Hopewell tradition.