Octagon Earthworks (Newark, Ohio)

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The Newark Earthworks were the largest set of geometric earthen enclosures in the world. Built by prehistoric Hopewell people between 100 BC and AD 500, this architectural wonder of ancient America was part cathedral, part cemetery, and part astronomical observatory. They are aligned to the 18.6 lunar cycle (north-south).
Originally covering more than four square miles, today only three major segments are preserved:

* Great Circle Earthworks
* Octagon Earthworks
* Wright Earthworks

ohsweb.ohiohistory.org/places/c08/octagon.shtml

Although often referred to as the Octagon Mound, this set of earthworks is in the form of a circle joined to an octagonal set of walls by two long, straight, parallel mounds. The octagonal enclosure covers nearly fifty acres. The circle, called the Observatory Circle, covers 20 acres. Its circumference is divided in half by a high mound, the Observatory Mound, positioned to afford a direct line of sight down the center of the entire Octagon Earthworks. This alignment marks the northernmost period of the lunar cycle when the moonrise can be viewed by looking directly down the center of the mound complex.

The Octagon Earthworks is owned by the Ohio Historical Society. The property is leased to Moundbuilders Country Club. Because the club’s golf course is within the sacred enclosure, public access is restricted to a viewing platform during most of the golf season except for several designated “golf-free days.”