Earthwork

Scholars who research "Earthwork" look at in archaeology, earthworks are artificial changes in land level, typically made from piles of artificially placed or sculpted rocks and soil. Earthworks can themselves be archaeological features, or they can show features beneath the surface.

Goals of "Earthwork" include Earthworks in North America include mounds built by Native Americans known as the Mound Builders. Ancient people who lived in the American Midwest commonly built effigy mounds, which are mounds shaped like animals (real or imaginary) or people. Possibly the most famous of these effigy mounds is Serpent Mound. Located in the Ohio, this 411-meterlong earthen work is thought to memorialize alignments of the planets and stars that were of special significance to the Native Americans that constructed it. Cone-shaped or conical mounds are also numerous, with thousands of them scattered across the American Midwest, some over 80 feet tall. These conical mounds appear to be marking the graves of one person or even dozens of people. An example of a conical mound is the Miamisburg Mound in central Ohio, which has been estimated to have been built by people of the Adena culture in the time range of 800 B.C. to 100 AD. The American Plains also hold temple mounds, or platform mounds, which are giant pyramid-shaped mounds with flat tops that once held temples made of wood. Examples of temple mounds include Monks Mound located at the Cahokia site in Collinsville, Illinois, and Mound H at the Crystal River site in Citrus County, Florida. The earthworks at Poverty Point occupy one of the largest-area sites in North America, as they cover some 920 acres (320 ha) of land in Louisiana.

Aston, Mick (2002),Feder, Kenneth (2008) Linking to the Past, 2nd ed., New York: Oxford, ISBN 978-0-19-533117-2 Muir, Richard (2004) Landscape Encyclopedia, Bollington, Cheshire: Windgather, ISBN 0-9545575-0-6 Taylor, Christopher (1974) Fieldwork in Medieval Archaeology, London: Batsford, ISBN 0-7134-2850-3 are some authorities of "Earthwork".

hill forts, henges, mounds, platform mounds, effigy mounds are a few themes of "Earthwork".