The outlines of three buildings have been discovered at the front of the mounds, and are suspected to be associated with the burial ritual as craft houses. This mound had a unique attribute in that it is constructed of clay and limestone gravel. Mills writes that "almost every portion had to be picked loose before a shovel could be used- (1917).
The Newark Earthworks are both the most complex and the least well known site. Covering 4 ½ square miles, most of the site lies underneath golf courses and the city of Newark. The only intact pieces of the earthwork are contained within Octagon State Park and several smaller parks. Built on the 2nd terrace of the tributaries of the Licking River, this site is surmised to be not exclusive to the Hopewell. Also noted are the appearance of effigy mounds, or mounds that resemble an animal or human being. While this is only a theory, most believe that these "effigy- mounds are merely overlapping mounds and are not symbolic of fauna or human.
Function.
The function of geometric earthworks has been theorized since the first settlers laid eyes on them. Two main theories suggest fortification and ceremonialism. Mound City, Seip, and Newark all seem to point to the latter. While all of these sites are attributed to the burial ritual, they differ in the number of burials and how the individuals are interred. Mound City houses the remains of at least thirteen individuals in Mound 1 (the largest mound). Two crematory basins have been discovered, super-imposed within the building structures. These basins have only been found in association with Hopewell mound sites. .
The Seip Mound Group houses at least one hundred and twenty-two burials within its ceremonial structure. A large crematory was discovered within the mound, near the northeast entrance0, measuring 6 feet by 8 feet (Mills 1917). The burials contained within the mound are both cremated and extended, unlike Mound City, where all of the burials are cremated.