By B.L. Freeborn © 2013
Circle and Octagon at Newark, Ohio from Squier -Davis drawing.
The most fascinating part of the Newark Earthworks is the Octagon and how very many things are going on inside it. It is mathematically a very busy place. In every respect this structure is a monument to mathematics and geometry.
It begins with a circle meeting an irregular octagon which is almost a distorted square. They join via a path or neck. Opposite this neck on the southwest side of the circle is an area dubbed the observation area due to its height and view it gives through this neck into the octagon. In addition, the circle has a slight ditch surrounding its exterior perimeter.
We have already noted that the square roots of 7.7 and 7.66 are 2.77 and 2.76. The outside distance of the neck is 270 – 274 feet on the north side and 278 to 281 feet on the south side. Assuming some form of creep is present the average of 270 and 281 is about 276 feet. The square of this value is 75900 feet or just shy of 76,000. The distance proposed between the two centers was 1540 or 2 x 770. The square root of 770 is 27.7. It would seem the original intention was to replicate the 770 in the neck as a multiple of its square root.
Hively/Horn, measuring from the middle top of the mounds, determined the neck measures 292 on the north and 296 on the south. The first number we saw as the distance from the Great Circle to Wright Square, 2920′, and twice this value is 584. The number 296 is the gematria value for Earth in Hebrew. The square root of 8.8 is 2.96. This 8.8 or 88 will appear again shortly. One final point, 292 x 296 = 86432 which reminds one of the diameter of the Sun at 864,337 miles and cannot even remotely be a coincidence.
The present distance across the throat at the base of the mounds measures somewhere in the range of 110 to 113.7 feet. Twice 56 is 112. Twice 56.5 is 113. This is a good indication of the original value.
The Observatory Circle at its southwestern extreme has an observation area. According to Hively the area was 170 feet long by 100 feet and 11 feet high in the year 1847. The number 170 is half of 340. Note that 90 degrees minus 34 is 56.
The octagon is composed of 8 long mounds that are separated at the corners. Within the Octagon there are 8 mounds, one at each break in the corners which seem to orbit within the Octagon. Recall that the earth is one of 8 planets orbiting the Sun. Wright Square also had 8 interior mounds. The eight sides plus the 8 inner mounds suggests the number 88. We have seen this number in the distance this Earthwork lies from The Great Serpent, 88.15 miles, and from Miamisburg Mound, 87.7 nautical miles. Each side averages in length from its mid-point 620 feet. Their sum is 4973 feet. This is a midpoint measurement. A measurement of the exterior perimeter is just over 5000 feet. The mounds measure on average 584 feet in length. The 8 interior mounds create an inner octagon. Measurement of the perimeter at the midpoints of the inner mounds measures 4400 feet.
The exterior circumference of 5000 x 88 = 440,000. This number, 440, appeared when the circumference of the earth in miles was divided by 56.5. It repeats in the perimeter of the inner mounds.
The diameter of the Observatory Circle, or a fifth mile, is not restricted to the circle. It can be found twice in the Octagon. The diameter of the Great Circle can be found there as well. This is better explained by looking at the image above. Now we see the “circle inscribed in a square” and “the square inscribed in a circle.” This is the beloved old world exercise explained earlier.
By way of the next image we can see that the two circumscribed squares have rotated with respect to each other. This will become important when we discuss the cosmology implied here.
Hively and Horn show and Romain also proves that the diameter of a square 1056 feet (their OCD) is used to generate the shape of the octagon. The diameter of a 1056′ square is 1493′. By making an arc of radius 1493′ from each of the four corners as shown the four remaining corners of the octagon can be generated.
This does not create a regular octagon in a stop sign shape. Instead this creates a square with sides that are broken outwards at the midpoints which is also important in the cosmology implied here.
The question as to how big this exterior square is remains. We can measure its dimensions as displayed in the earthwork but it needs to be confirmed. The diagonals are 1728 and 1717 feet. The sides measure roughly 1227, 1212, 1210, and 1213. (Hively) Compare this to a calculated diagonal of 1737 and side of 1228 feet. The largest side of the square is the end facing the circle. It is not an optical illusion that end is larger. The average length of each is then 1215 feet. This is 607′ per each of the 8 bars and 8 inner mounds. This might imply the relationship 6 x 88 = 5280 feet to the mile.
The two diameters 1728 and 1717 differ from the calculated 1737. The first differs by 9′ and the second by 20′. In other words, the most northern corner is pushed in considerably to create this number. The number 1717 repeats the 17 which appeared in the observation area. The number 1728 is 864 x 2.
All in all, a very pleasing geometric harmony is produced by continuously repeating the same numbers. The next image adds the largest square used and completes the Octagon.
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References/Footnotes:
- Hively, Ray, and Horn, Robert, Geometry and Astronomy in Prehistoric Ohio, “Journal for the History of Astronomy, Archaeoastronomy,” Supplement, Vol. 13, p.S1; also Science History Publications, 1982. See: http://articles.adsabs.harvard.edu
- Romain, William F., Ph.D., Newark Earthwork Cosmology: This Island Earth, “Hopewell Archeology: The Newsletter of Hopewell Archeology in the Ohio River Valley,” Vol.6 (2), March 2005. See: http://www.nps.gov/mwac/hopewell/v6n2/one.htm
- Romain, William F., Ph.D., Design and Layout of the Newark Earthwork Complex, “Hopewell Archeology: The Newsletter of Hopewell Archeology in the Ohio River Valley,” Vol.6 (2), March 2005. See: http://www.nps.gov/mwac/hopewell/v6n2/two.htm
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