<P> The Hopewell inherited from their Adena forebears an incipient social stratification . This increased social stability and reinforced sedentism, social stratification, specialized use of resources, and probably population growth . Hopewell societies cremated most of their deceased and reserved burial for only the most important people . In some sites, hunters apparently received a higher status in the community because their graves were more elaborate and contained more status goods . </P> <P> The Hopewellian peoples had leaders, but they were not like powerful rulers who could command armies of slaves and soldiers . These cultures likely accorded certain families a special place of privilege . Some scholars suggest that these societies were marked by the emergence of "big - men". These leaders acquired their position because of their ability to persuade others to agree with them on important matters such as trade and religion . They also perhaps were able to develop influence by the creation of reciprocal obligations with other important members of the community . Whatever the source of their status and power, the emergence of "big - men" was another step toward the development of the highly structured and stratified sociopolitical organization called the chiefdom . </P> <P> Today, the best - surviving features of the Hopewell tradition era are mounds built for uncertain purposes . Great geometric earthworks are one of the most impressive Native American monuments throughout American prehistory . Eastern Woodlands mounds have various geometric shapes and rise to impressive heights . The gigantic sculpted earthworks often took the shape of animals, birds, or writhing serpents . The function of the mounds is still under debate . Due to considerable evidence and surveys, plus the good survival condition of the largest mounds, more information can be obtained . </P> <P> Several scientists, including Dr. Bradley T. Lepper, Curator of Archaeology, Ohio Historical Society, hypothesize that the Octagon earthwork at Newark, Ohio, was a lunar observatory oriented to the 18.6 - year cycle of minimum and maximum lunar risings and settings on the local horizon . Dr. John Eddy completed an unpublished survey in 1978, and proposed a lunar major alignment for the Octagon . Ray Hively and Robert Horn of Earlham College in Richmond, Indiana, were the first researchers to analyze numerous lunar sightlines at the Newark Earthworks (1982) and the High Banks Works (1984) in Chillicothe, Ohio . Christopher Turner noted that the Fairground Circle in Newark, Ohio aligns to the sunrise on May 4, i.e. that it marked the May cross-quarter sunrise . In 1983, Turner demonstrated that the Hopeton earthworks encode various sunrise and moonrise patterns, including the winter and summer solstices, the equinoxes, the cross-quarter days, the lunar maximum events, and the lunar minimum events . </P>

An impressive feature of the hopewell culture was its