Woodland Mounds in West Virginia, American Heritage

Name: Woodland Mounds in West Virginia, American Heritage
Author: Darla Spencer

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.

Darla Spencer

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.