Hopewellian Geometry and Astronomy at High Bank

Hively R. Horn R. , “Geometry and astronomy in Prehistoric Ohio”, Archaeoastronomy, no. 4 (1982), Sl–20.

Sofaer A. Sinclair R. M. Doggett L. E. , “Lunar markings at Faiada Butte, Chaco Canyon”, in Archaeoastronomy in the New World, ed. by Aveni A. F. (Cambridge, 1982), 169–81.

Evans J. H. Hillman H. , “Documentation of some lunar and solar events at Casa Grande, Arizona”, in Archaeoastronomy in the Americas, ed. by Williamson R. A. (Los Altos, Calif., 1981), 133–5.

Autrey N. E. Autrey W. R. , “Zodiac Ridge”, in Archaeoastronomy in the Americas, ed. by Williamson R. A. (Los Altos, Calif., 1981), 81–99.

Squier E. G. Davis E. H. , Ancient monuments of the Mississippi Valley (Washington, D.C., 1847), 50–51.

Fowke G. , Archaeological history of Ohio (Ohio State Archaeological and Historic Society, Columbus, Ohio, 1902), 155.

Personal communication from Oren Shane , 17 March 1983.

Ibid..

Reeves D. H. , “A newly discovered extension of the Newark works”, Ohio archaeological and historical quarterly, xlv (1936), 189–93.

Thomas C. , “The circular, square and octagonal earthworks of Ohio”, Smithsonian Institution Bureau of Ethnology, Bulletin, x (Washington, D.C., 1889), 20–23.

Holmes W. H. , “Notes upon some geometric earthworks, with contour maps”, American anthropologist, v (1892), 363–73.

Hively Horn , op. cit., S4–7.

The length of this axis was not recorded in the Middleton survey. The length we have given was measured from the aerial photograph in Figure 3 and, owing to the difficulty of identifying clearly the midline of the walls on this photograph, the accuracy of the given distance is probably no better than 1 per cent.

Aveni A. F. , “Astronomical tables intended for use in astroarchaeological studies”, American antiquity, xxxvii (1972), 531–40.

It should be noted that the criterion of upper limb tangency was utilized in our Newark paper. A lower limb criterion would not appreciably alter the mean accuracy of the alignments proposed for Newark. Until more evidence is available as to what criterion might have been employed by the Hopewell and as to whether the same criterion was employed at different sites, we believe it is best to let the data at a given site determine the criterion for defining rise and set points.

The probability that a randomly oriented line will point to a given point on the horizon with a tolerance of ▵° is 2(2▵)/360. The probability that one of the four symmetry axes of a randomly-oriented octagon will align with one of the eight lunar rise-set points is 8(4)(2)(2▵)/360. Therefore the probability that two randomly/oriented octagons will have a symmetry axis align with the same lunar point within tolerance ▵ is 8(4)²(2)²(2▵)²/360². This assumes that ▵ is small enough that a given line cannot align with more than one of the eight lunar events.

Thomas , op. cit..