hopewell

Comet impact may have triggered decline of Ohio’s Hopewell people 1,600 years ago

by

Astronomy and anthropology have blended to help determine what might have triggered the decline of a major North American society 1,600 years ago.  A vibrant culture lived in the Ohio Valley from about 200 BCE to 300 CE. These people were the ancestors of many modern Native American tribes, such as the Haudenosaunee (Iroquois) and … Read more

A Cosmic Airburst May Have Devastated a Vast Native American Culture 1,500 Years Ago

by

More than 1500 years ago, a vast culture known as the Hopewell tradition (or Hopewell culture) stretched across what is today the eastern United States.  The cause of the culture’s decline has long been debated, with war and climate change two of the possibilities, but now a new avenue of inquiry has opened up: debris from a … Read more