The post-Hopewell village site at Highbanks Metro Park is a good example of one that was protected. It was built within rugged terrain such as ravines.
Many people believe that, because Fort Ancient and Mississippian culture villages were built inside walls or palisades, there must have been enemies lurking outside.
Bradley T. Lepper, archaeological curator for the Ohio Historical Society, said the fighting was probably between villages or groups and might have been caused by competition over land and resources.
Lepper emphasized that some archaeologists do not think warfare ended the Mound Builder culture.
Nevertheless, many think that producing such large works, including those built by the Hopewell in Newark, took a lot of people all working toward a common goal, and that might have required peace and prosperity.
The Fort Ancient culture did produce effigy mounds, such as Serpent Mound in Adams County and Alligator Mound in Licking County.
Lepper pointed out that many of the Fort Ancient burials were of people who had died violently; some skeletons had stone arrowheads stuck in them.
He said the bow and arrow came into widespread use during the Fort Ancient and Mississippian period.
"The chief advantage of the bow and arrow over weapons such as the spear and atlatl is a more rapid rate of fire," he said. An atlatl is a spear-throwing stick.
The Fort Ancient period ended about 1600, and that could have been because of the arrival of European diseases, Lepper said. The diseases spread across the country faster than the Europeans did, he said.
It is clear that warfare was a big part of life during the Fort Ancient civilization and hadn't been so during the Hopewell period, he said.
"Why these cultures ended is one of the most interesting questions we can ask about the past."
Retired weather columnist John Switzer writes a Sunday Metro column.
jswitzer@dispatch.com http://www.dispatch.com/live/content/local_news/stories/2009/11/15/john15.ART_ART_11-15-09_B4_V9FM6MM.html?sid=101