Please Pass This Notice On To Anyone You Feel May Be Interested!

Dear All,

This urgent letter is to inform everyone of the critical need for assistance in saving one of ’s special ancient . The Junction Group earthworks are in immediate danger from potential development or outright destruction due to the site going up for sale in an auction March 18, 2014.

The Junction Group earthworks are one of Ohio’s last remaining prehistoric groups of mounds and ceremonial earthwork enclosures and are considered by archaeologists to have been built by peoples of the Hopewell culture approximately 2,000 years ago. This ancient, sacred, ceremonial earthwork enclosure site is similar to other, more well-known Hopewellian earthworks such as those located just four miles to the north at nearby Hopewell Culture National Historic Park – a site recently put on the U.S. list of nominations to become a UNESCO World Heritage site.

E.G. Squier and E.H. Davis, in their landmark 1847 work Ancient Monuments of the Mississippi Valley , published the first complete survey of the earthwork:

Junction Group (Squier and Davis 1848, Plate XXII, no. 1).

The Junction Group gets its name because its location is at the junction of Paint Creek and the North Fork of Paint Creek. Very little study has been done of this unique collection of earthworks.

Many of the Hopewellian earthwork constructions throughout Ohio have incorporated significant astronomical alignments in their designs, but it is unclear whether the Junction Group earthworks have any such connections because only one limited study of archaeo- of the site has ever been conducted (Romain, William F., “More Astronomical Alignments at Hopewell Sites in Ohio”, Ohio Archaeologist Vol. 49 No.1 Winter 1999). Dr. Romain’s study suggested that the Junction Group incorporates a Summer alignment through the corners of the large square, as well as a further Lunar Maximum sunset alignment also using the large square.

A magnetic-gradient remote-sensing study was conducted by archaeologist Dr. Jarrod Burks from the Ohio Valley Archaeology, Inc. in 2005-06 which re-mapped the earthworks (“Rediscovering prehistoric earthworks in Ohio, USA: it all starts in the archives,” Chapter 8, Landscapes Through the Lens: Aerial Photographs and the Historic Environment, ed. David Crowley) found remnants of all of the enclosures, and discovered that the small square mapped by Squier & Davis was actually shaped more like a four-leaf clover, or a quadrifoil – as seen in the aerial photo below.

Oblique Aerial Photo of the Junction Group (© Jeffrey Wilson, Friends of Serpent Mound, 2012).

As seen in the above aerial photo, at least three of the geometric earthworks still survive (the rest survive in the sub- surface), if in a somewhat degraded state. It is quite fortunate and amazing that this prehistoric construction has survived as much as it has considering it has been farmed for the past 200 years or so, and has never undergone urban development by remaining intact through private ownership – UNTIL NOW . On March 18, 2014, the Stark family farm is going up for auction and is being divided into six tracts -- one of those tracts (Tract #1 – 89.4 acres) includes the earthworks in their entirety :

Tracts of the Stark farm going up for auction – Tract #1 contains the Junction Group in its entirety.

Why is there a danger to this site? Because the area up for auction (all six tracts of the farm) includes several hundred acres of prime farmland along Paint Creek that developers are eager to obtain due to the close proximity to the city of Chillicothe. Unfortunately, Congressional funding to save this site is perhaps years away, so the cannot obtain the funds in time to secure the protection of the site. Understand and recognize that the ancient peoples who built these structures aren’t around to make any more of them – we need to do what we can to preserve what few remain!

How can you help? One organization is making an effort to save this important site: the Friends of Serpent Mound (FOSM) ( www.serpentmound.org .) FOSM (a registered 501c3 non-profit organization) is working to raise the funds necessary to buy and protect this valuable cultural resource, with the goal of having the National Park Service eventually take administration/ownership of the site. Due to the recent escalation in farmland values (estimated to be now between $2,500-$5,000 per acre) FOSM believes that they need to raise at least $500,000 dollars to acquire the site in the auction. PLEASE consider making a contribution – however large or small - to this worthy effort! Details can be found at their website “Saving Junction Group”-- http://www.serpentmound.org/savejunctiongroup.html . Other organizations and individuals are desperately needed to join this cooperative effort by lending their voice and financial support.

Please do all you can as the window of opportunity (only about two weeks away) is very short and rapidly closing! Please forward this notice to your contact e -mail lists, and give it to anyone you feel may be able to help. We will be extending this notification to representatives in the Ohio Legislature, Congress, various archaeological and nature preserve organizations, as well as several news organizations. We urge you to also contact as many as you can to voice your support. Only a large collective effort will be able to accomplish saving the Junction Group in this short window of time!

Thank you for your consideration, and any assistance you might contribute! You can donate directly via PAYPAL here:

Sincerely,

Jeffrey and Delsey Wilson Friends of the Serpent Mound , Adams County, Ohio

Jeffrey Wilson President, Friends of the Serpent Mound www.serpentmound.org Contact: 734-891-2689 [email protected]

Delsey Wilson Executive Director, Friends of Serpent Mound www.serpentmound.org Contact: 937-205-0094 [email protected]

Who to Contact with Questions:

For more information on the Friends of Serpent Mound www.serpentmound.org