UC prof launches Web site to help explore the Ancient Ohio Trail

Building on his work to use virtual technology to electronically rebuild lost or damaged Native American monuments, UC professor John Hancock and others have put together a Web site that offers itineraries and directions 50 ancient earthwork sites in southern and central Ohio. Hancock and colleagues just launched the  Ancient Ohio Trail Web site, which features itineraries and directions leading to 50 fully extant or partial remnants of earthworks, directions on the most scenic routes to travel in order to arrive at these earthworks, places to eat and stay while exploring the earthworks, photos and descriptions about the construction and purpose of each site.

The project is a follow-up to Hancock’s ambitious project called EarthWorks, which is now traveling museums across the Midwest. “In working on EarthWorks, I had a lot of fun tromping around the hills and valleys to find the earthworks or their ruins,” Hancock says. “I wanted to share that feet-on-the-ground experience. That’s how the Ancient Ohio Trail project began.”

Hancock and his team plan to continue adding features to the site. In the future, they plan to add audio and video tours as well as other information that users will be able to download to a cell phone, laptop or other electronic device when actually at a specific earthwork site.

Writer: David Holthaus
Source: M.B. Reilly, University of Cincinnati