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Site Manager Jim Kingery

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The world celebrated Newark Earthworks Day Saturday.

Jim Kingery is the Site Manager for the Newark Earthworks. 

“We have had a dedication of the Licking County Convention and Visitor’s Bureau because their new office is now located in what was the old museum. Part of this celebration is their office, and the other part is a display on the importance of the Newark Earthworks.”

Kingery says events took place at the OSU-Newark campus and the Great Circle location throughout the day. 

“People could come and look at these new exhibits. We also had a tent outside where some really wonderful people donated their time to come here and do presentations. Among them was a storyteller, two flint knappers and a flute player. We also have a garden display that was put together by one of our great volunteers because we are doing a garden behind the museum that represents the plant materials the people that built these Earthworks would have cultivated.”

The ribbon cutting ceremony to officially open the new Licking County Convention and Visitor’s Bureau was held around 6 p.m., followed by a ceremonial dance performed by Aztec dancers.

Kingery says the Newark Earthworks are a great asset to our community. 

“I like to think of the Newark Earthworks as a window to the world. If you don’t have a lot of money and you can’t go to see the Redwoods and all of those kinds of things, you don’t have to because you can get an insight of an ancient culture right here in our own backyard.”

Kingery adds that the Earthworks are truly spectacular. 

“These Earthworks are so enormous, but at the same time, they were so intricately made. There are four square miles of Earthworks and mounds with geometric features that are nearly perfect. It is really an engineering feat that was built by hand. We also have astronomical connections here, and then you have the cultural connection of the people who actually built them. So, you have a three-fold thing going on with these Earthworks.”

The Newark Earthworks site is one of several sites in Ohio under consideration to be placed on the World Heritage list.

Kingery explains what it would mean if the site was chosen. 

“We would be on the same standing with places like Stonehenge, the pyramids and the great monuments of the world. That includes natural sites like Yellowstone and the great Redwood trees. You have natural sites and you have cultural sites. Cultural sites could also include the Statue of Liberty. It would really be a phenomenal thing if we could have that kind of stature, and it would certainly raise our awareness to the world because people from all over the world would be looking at this as a destination point.”

The United Nations could decide to add the sites to the World Heritage list between 2009 and 2015.