Possible Indian trial marker stone directing to Octagon Earthworks. During the period of time when my father lived in the house on Counter Drive just behind the stone mansion across the Raccoon Creek that runs along Rt 16 leading out of Newark towards Granville,Ohio I would often hike and fish in the stream both where it circled back behind my parents house as well as a few places where the river flowed to the West in the front of the property in front of the stone mansion.Then one day in one foot of water on the edge of the Raccoon Creek where it turns sharply away from Rt 16 I found a triangular sandstone that had obvious "rippled water marks"on both sides where it had obviously been in the river for a long time.But the sides were still very straight as if someone had worked extensively to make them straight and uniform in a triangle.The sides are both 9 inches long and the bottom is 6 inches long.Originally the tip of the triangle was very weak and it did in fact break off shortly after I found it in the river so I super glued it back on.

With information readily available it is known that the Hopewell culture (100 B.C. to 500 A.D.)from what is today Hopewell, Ohio, arose as a result of extensive trade routes which ran, north-south, from the Great Lakes to Mexico and, east-west, from the Rocky Mountains to the Atlantic coast.And The Newark Earthworks were the largest set of geometric earthworks ever built in Ohio. From the far, northernmost sides of the Octagon, there are clear views of the natural terraces down to Raccoon Creek. .The Hopewell Indians were great craftsman in addition to constantly working in the area on the mounds.It is well known that the Hopewell did not live directly within any of the sacred burial or ceremonial mounds construction sites.Knowing the area where my parents lived for years as well as the direction the raccoon creek takes as it winds its way around the Octagon site as well as the Moundbuilders site allowed me to determine that the stone I found could have very well been a "marker stone".Other tribes from Ohio following the raccoon creek into Licking County might have used well placed marker stones so they knew when to cut across from the river trail they were following and follow the trail leading to the community built beside the Octagon mounds for trading or ceremony. So I have included a map showing where my parents lived as well as the location where I found what I believe to me a possible trail marker stone that tribes coming on horseback from upriver could use to find the Hopewell craftsmen for trading purposes.It is unknown exactly why the Hopewell civilization declined so quickly as they were a very peaceful and intelligent race of Indians.