A 2,000-year-old Hopewell earthwork in Butler County narrowly escaped potential destruction a few years ago. Now, Fortified Hill is being preserved and the site is offering a limited run of guided tours.

Pyramid Hill Sculpture Park and Museum won the property at auction in 2019 after a community effort to save the earthwork. The previous owner died without specifying what should happen to the land , and it seemed destined to be headed for development.

Fortified Hill is a hilltop enclosure-style earthwork, one of just four known in southwest Ohio, including Fort Ancient, which was recently added to the UNESCO World Heritage List . Unlike Fort Ancient, which features solar and lunar alignments , it's unclear why early Indigenous peoples built Fortified Hill.

"We can guess, based on the wa

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