Woodland Mounds in West Virginia

by Darla Spencer

Overview

The first Europeans to arrive in the Ohio Valley were intrigued and puzzled by the many conical earthen mounds they encountered there. They created wild theories about who the mysterious "mound builders" might be.

It was not until the 1880s that Smithsonian Institution investigations revealed that the mound builders were the ancestors of living Native Americans. More than four hundred mounds have been recorded in West Virginia, including the Grave Creek Mound in Marshall County, once the largest conical mound in North America. Join archaeologist Darla Spencer and learn about the Grave Creek Mound and sixteen additional Adena mounds and groups of mounds from the fascinating Woodland period in West Virginia.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781467138659
Publisher:	Arcadia Publishing SC
Publication date:	07/01/2019
Series:	American Heritage
Pages:	144
Product dimensions:	5.90(w) x 8.90(h) x 0.40(d)

About the Author

Darla Spencer focuses her career on studying early Native American civilizations and archaeology. She is a registered professional archaeologist and currently serves as a member of the board of directors of the Council for West Virginia Archaeology and is a member of the West Virginia Archaeological Society. Darla teaches Native American studies at West Virginia University. Her first book, Early Native Americans in West Virginia: The Fort Ancient Culture, was published by The History Press in 2016.

Table of Contents

Foreword Michael Anslinger 11

Preface 13

Acknowledgements 15

1 Background and Archaeological Designated Periods 17

2 The Woodland Period in the Ohio Valley 25

3 The Adena Culture 30

4 History of Mound Explorations 37

5 Mound Sites in West Virginia 39

Glossary of Archaeological Terms 121

Notes 125

Bibliography 135

Index 141

About the Author 143