The material was likely brought to Ohio by ancient peoples either making quests to the source to experience the journey as a religious experience similar to a religious pilgrimage or vision quest or was carried by those coming from faraway lands to participate in the ceremonial events occurring at the earthwork complexes in the Scioto River Valley. This leads archeologists to believe that the material was not traded down-the-line but carried directly to the Scioto Valley. In the vast amount of land between Ohio and Wyoming there is hardly any presence of obsidian other than in Hopewell sites. Note the horizontal break in the middle of the point, indicative of its ceremonial use. All the matches from Ohio obsidian artifacts can be traced back to the Yellowstone region.Īn obsidian spear point from the Hopewell culture. We know this from scientific studies on obsidian that compare the elements found in the obsidian in Ohio to different possible source sites in North America through techniques like x-ray fluorescence (XRF) which measures the chemicals in rocks, minerals, sediments, and liquids. The obsidian artifacts found in Hopewell Culture National Historical Park came from Obsidian Cliff in Wyoming, inside Yellowstone National Park, and Bear Gulch in Idaho, just west of the National Park boundary. However, the obsidian found in the earthworks here in the Scioto River Valley seems to be only black in color. ![]() Obsidian is naturally occurring glass that is jet black in color but can also be brown, tan, or green. What was it about this material that motivated the people who participated in the Hopewell culture to obtain it and place it within their magnificent earthworks in Ohio? Well, even today obsidian continues to be valued for its properties and its connections to the earth, a similar connection was likely true for the people who lived in the Scioto Valley 2,000 years ago. ![]() The nearest volcano is over 1,500 miles away in Yellowstone National Park in Wyoming. You might be wondering, “What is obsidian doing in the Scioto River valley in Ohio? There are no volcanoes here!” This is a reasonable question. It is naturally forming glass (a type of igneous rock) that is only formed from the rapid cooling of lava, so it only occurs in places where there are volcanoes. Obsidian Cliff in Yellowstone National Park in Wyoming.
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