S A C R E D E N C L S U R E S . 51 



the remains of structures of some kind, and also that they were the bases of 

 unfinished mounds. There arc no indications of entrances or passage ways, a 

 circumstance which favors the latter hypothesis. Similar small circles occur 

 within or in the immediate vicinity of several other large works. 



PLATE XVII.* 



HOPETON WORKS, ROS.S COUNTY, OHIO. 



Four miles above the city of Chillicothe, on the east bank of the Scioto river, 

 is situated the singular group of works figured in the Plate. They are found upon 

 the third " bottom " or terrace, just at the base of an elevated plain, upon which, five 

 hundred paces distant, and to the right of the main works, the minor group B is situ- 

 ated. They consist of a rectangle, with an attached circle, the latter extending into 

 the former, instead of being connected with it in the usual manner. The rectangle 

 measures nine hundred and fifty by nine hundred feet, and the circle is ten hundred 

 and fifty feet in diameter. The centre of the circle is somewhat to the right of a 

 line drawn through the centre of the rectangle, parallel to its longest sides. The 

 exterior gateways are twelve in number, and have an average width of about twenty- 

 five feet. The chord of that part of the circle interior to the rectangle is five hundred 

 and thirty feet. On the east side are two circles, measuring two hundred, and two 

 hundred and fifty feet in diameter respectively ; one covering a gateway, the other 

 extending into, and opening within, the work. About tAvo hundred paces north of 

 the great circle is another smaller one, two hundred and fifty feet in diameter. 



The walls of the rectangular work are composed of a clayey loam, twelve feet 

 high by fifty feet base, and are destitute of a ditch on either side. They resemble 

 the heavy grading of a railway, and are broad enough, on the top, to admit the 

 passage of a coach. The wall of the great circle was never as high as that of the 

 rectangle ; yet, although it has been much reduced of late years by the plough, it 

 is still about five feet in average height. It is also destitute of a ditch. It is built 

 of clay, which differs strikingly in respect of color from the surrounding soil. The 

 walls of the smaller circles are about three feet in height, with interior ditches of 

 corresponding depth. • 



Parallel walls extend from the north-western corner of the rectangle, towards the 

 river tb the south-west. They are twenty-four hundred feet, or nearly half a mile 



* This work is marked D in the Map, Plate II. Since this Plate was engraved, it has been ascertained 

 that a plan of this work was published in the "Portfolio," in 1809. The two plans are substantially 

 alike, except that the one in the " Portfolio " represents the parallels as terminating in a small circle, and 

 as connected with the large circle, — both of which features are erroneous. The walls of the parallels 

 are much obliterated, where they approach the bank of the terrace. 



