Mounds and Earthworks on the Public Highway Part Nineteen: West Virginia	by Steven R. Cooper
Central States Archaeological Societies 2025 January Journal	Cary, North Carolina

This excerpt from "Mounds and Earthworks on the Public Highway Part Nineteen: West Virginia" published in the 2025 Central States Archaeological Societies 2025 January Journal Read this and mores in the Central States Archaeological 2025 January Journal which can be purchased on-line after March 2026
At top: Figure 1. Grave Creek Mound today. Photo by Tim Kiser. Liscensed under the Wikipdeia Creative Commons

West Virginia has a rich prehistoric past that spans Paleo through Mississippian, with numerous sites across the state. Sadly, and typically, many of these ancient places have been eradicated. There is evidence of over 400 burial mounds in the state, with just a few ever receiving any kind of archaeological attention. The majority are long gone, the only knowledge of them being early surveying maps or mentions from the writings of 19th Century authors or antiquarians.

The majority of surviving mound sites in the state are either on private property or owned by the state with restricted access. But there are several sites that have been preserved that allow public access. The easiest to visit are the huge Grave Creek Mound site in Moundsville and three mounds in the Kanawha Valley, Cel, Dunbar ( Shawnee Reservation Mound) and the Great Smith Mound. There are several other mounds that can be visited, but these are mostly small and require some effort to find.

West Virginia had many mounds when the first settlers traveled over the mountains. The destruction of these seemed to have been a routine endeavor. For example, road work, farming and looting diminished the 30’ tall Fairchance Mound down to just 4’ in height. It once was stone covered and quite impressive. Today it sits within state property on what was once the old prison grounds work farm, just a few miles from the surviving Grave Creek Mound site. Murad Mound in St. Albans was a Hopewell mound with two log tombs and extensive artifacts. It is now 100% gone, replaced by commercial construction. The book, Woodland Mounds in West Virginia” documents many of the sites, and is a wonderful resource for history, photographs and location.

Luckily, two of the surviving mound sites are worthy of visitation and open to the public. The most famous and well known is the Grave Creek Mound, one of the largest Adena period mounds.

The Grave Creek Mound Archaeological Complex includes the mound and a wonderful museum. The mound itself dates to around 150 BC and was originally higher than it is today. A moat 40’ wide and 5’ deep surrounding it, with a causeway leading up to one side of the mound. The nearby region was full of other enclosures and mounds, including the Elizabeth Town Group and Schoolcraft Mound, both of which were excavated before the 1840s. A tablet, blocked end tube pipes, copper and other artifacts were recorded as being found, but their whereabouts are unknown today. Sadly, all of these prehistoric sites have been erased from the landscape.

Joseph Tomlinson owned Grave Creek mound, and originally allowed no excavations. He eventually drove a 12’ long tunnel into the mound, but only found one human jawbone. He died in 1826. An article in the local paper promoted the mound as being a repository of ancient wonders, and that finding these could bring enormous economic prosperity to the town in the form of tourism. Dr. James W. Clemens arranged to borrow $2500 to fund the excavation of the mound (approvimately $80,000 today). This persuaded Joseph’s son, Jesse, to allow tunneling into the mound in 1838. A shaft was sunk into the mound horizontality, 4’ above the base. Eventually a passageway covered by timbers was discovered leading sideways into a log-lined vault, 111 feet from the point of entry and 6’-8’ below ground level (see Figs 3,4). A male and female skeleton were found side by side. The male had a stone gorget and 650 shell beads buried with him. The female had no artifacts. Then it was decided to dig a shaft from the top of the mound straight down. But first, a large oak tree had to be removed (thought to be around 500 years old it was so large). They immediately encountered what appeared to be intrusive burials (determined today to be from what is known as the Intrusive Mound Culture, which flourished between the collapse of the Hopewell and the rise of the Fort Ancient societies). Probing deeper, they struck another vault in the center. This tomb was 33’ deep from the top of the mound. One heavily decayed individual was found, surrounded by thousands of beads, 5 copper bracelets on the wrists, a six-sided stone gorget and a large number of drilled mica “squares” covering the body (thought to have been attached to a garment). Additionally, a small stone covered in strange writing was supposedly found, which later became known as the “Grave Creek Tablet” (Fig. 5) The tablet was examined by Ephraim Squier, who doubted its authenticity. The original has been lost for many years, but copies exist. It is surmised today that Dr. Clemens had the tablet made, as it would have created great public interest, which in turn would help him recoup his investment. At the time, there was much speculation in the United States as to who built the mounds, and the consensus was that they could not have been made by Native Americans. It was presumed they were the likely product of European settlers from a distant time,including Irish monks, the Lost Tribes of Israel and other fanciful notions (The Book of Morman, was written during this time. It is centered around an angelic given prehistory of America documenting the arrival of Jesus to the continent).

These discoveries led Jesse to ...

This excerpt from "Mounds and Earthworks on the Public Highway Part Nineteen: West Virginia" published in the 2025 Central States Archaeological Societies 2025 January Journal Read this and mores in the Central States Archaeological 2025 January Journal which can be purchased on-line after March 2026

The grounds and the De Norona Museum at the Grave Creek Mound Archaeological Complex have much to offer the visitor. The displays are excellent, and the signage on the grounds make exploring the mound an interesting adventure.