Mysteries of the Hopewell: Astronomers, Geometers, and Magicians of the Eastern Woodlands

5. Azimuths to the Otherworld

Chapter 5 A Z I M U T H S T O T H E O T H E R W O R L D I heard the dogs howl in the moonlight night, And I went to the window to see the sight; All the dead that I ever knew Going one by one and two by two. On they pass’d, and on they pass’d; Townsfellows all from first to last; Born in the moonlight of the lane And quench’d in the heavy shadow again. On, on, a moving bridge they made Across the moon-stream, from shade to shade. —Allingham, “A Dream” Among all the powers of the heavens that are visible to the naked eye, surely the sun is the most awesome. Still, there comes a time, at the end of the day, when the sun disappears and yields its dominion of the sky to the mysterious, silver moon. Given that the moon rules the night, it should come as no surprise that the Hopewell might align some of their earthworks to this celestial body. Indeed, impressive evidence for lunar consciousness is found at the Newark Earthworks and the High Bank Earthwork. 143 newark The Newark Earthworks were originally comprised of several geometrically shaped enclosures of varying size and complexity. These enclosures, in turn, appear to have been connected to each other by a series of parallel walls. Today, the most visible of these earthworks and the ones we are concerned with here are the Observatory Circle and its connected Octagon; and a second, nearby earthwork known as the Fairground Circle. The definitive work on the archaeoastronomy of the Newark Earthworks was published in 1982 by Ray Hively and Robert Horn. In their paper, Hively and Horn report a total of seventeen lunar alignments evident in the designs of the Observatory Circle and Octagon and the Fairground Circle. Of these proposed lunar alignments, perhaps the most impressive finding is that the longitudinal axis of the Observatory Circle and Octagon is in alignment with the moon’s maximum north rise position. According to Hively and Horn (1982:table 2), the measured azimuth of this longitudinal axis or sightline is 52°.0, while, from Aveni’s tables, they find that the moon’s maximum north rising azimuth was 51°.8— given a computed horizon elevation of 0°.51, upper limb tangency, and a date of a.d. 250. In other words, the longitudinal axis of the Observatory Circle and Octagon is aligned to the moon’s maximum north rise position to within two-tenths of one degree (52°.0 – 51°.8 = 0°.2). Figure 5.1 shows this alignment. Yet another impressive alignment is found in the sightline that extends along the Fairground Circle’s gateway or entrance. As pointed out by Hively and Horn (1982:table 2), the axis of the entranceway to the Fairground Circle extends along a measured azimuth of 66°.6. From Aveni’s tables, Hively and Horn found that the moon’s minimum north rising azimuth was 65°.7 given a computed horizon elevation of 0°.11, upper limb tangency, and a date of a.d. 250. According to Hively and Horn, therefore, the alignment of the Fairground Circle entranceway to this lunar rise event is to within nine-tenths of one degree (66°.6 – 65°.7 = 0°.9). Figure 5.2 shows this alignment. 144 p h y s i c a l pa r a m e t e r s Fig. 5.1. Plan of the Newark Octagon and Observatory Circle showing Hively and Horn’s proposed lunar alignment. Drawing by the author. Fig. 5.2. Plan of the Newark Fairground Circle showing Hively and Horn’s proposed lunar alignment of the gateway. Modified after Thomas 1894:plate 31. Hively and Horn used a computed horizon elevation for their analysis. Perhaps, though, we can improve on Hively and Horn’s work by using actual measured horizon elevation data. Today, the view of the horizon along the 66°.6 azimuth as measured from the Fairground Circle entranceway is obstructed by the Newark Earthworks Museum. By measuring the horizon elevation on both sides of this small building, however, I found the horizon elevation on either side of the building to be about one-half of one degree. Since the horizon elevation in the direction of the building is flat, we can use the two adjacent readings...