Grave Creek Mound Archaeological Complex in Moundsville will present a children’s workshop entitled “Ice Age West Virginia” from 2 - 3:30 p.m. on Sunday, Feb. 15. The workshop is geared for students in kindergarten through fourth grade although visitors of all ages are invited to attend. The “Ice Age West Virginia” session is free and the public is encouraged to attend.
Students will explore how West Virginia’s earliest human inhabitants, known as Paleo Indians, survived in an Ice Age environment. These early families lived in small nomadic groups that hunted large game animals such as mammoths, horses, and caribou, but also relied on locally available plants for survival.
The children’s workshop will utilize museum exhibits, fossil casts, and a slide program to discuss the Paleo Indians and their environment. As a take-home project, students will make wooly mammoth puppets out of paper bags. Advance registration is required in order to ensure that supplies are plentiful, and the children must be accompanied by an adult.
Exhibits at Grave Creek Mound include examples of Paleo Indian projectile points as well as a diorama featuring a mammoth hunt and other hunting techniques. Visitors also can view exhibits that interpret the Adena people who built Grave Creek Mound, and, weather permitting, climb the stone steps to the top of the mound. There also is a museum shop.
Additional information about Paleo Indians in West Virginia can be found on the West Virginia Division of Culture and History’s Web site at http://www.wvculture.org/shpo/paleo.html. For more information about the “Ice Age West Virginia” workshop or future events at Grave Creek Mound, contact Andrea Keller, cultural program coordinator for the complex, at (304) 843-4128, ext. 202, or by e-mail at andrea.keller@wvculture.org.
Operated by the West Virginia Division of Culture and History, Grave Creek Mound Archaeological Complex features one of the largest and most famous burial mounds built by the prehistoric Adena people. A massive undertaking, construction of the mound took place in successive stages from about 250-150 B.C., and required the movement of more than 60,000 tons of earth. Exhibits and displays in the complex’s museum interpret what is known about the lives of these prehistoric people and the construction of the mound. The Archaeological Complex is located at 801 Jefferson Ave., in Moundsville. Contact the museum for information regarding group registration and detailed driving directions. The museum is free and open to the public Monday through Saturday from 10 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., and Sunday from 1 to 5 p.m. Access to the mound closes 30 minutes before the museum.
The West Virginia Division of Culture and History, an agency of the West Virginia Department of Education and the Arts, brings together the state’s past, present and future through programs and services in the areas of archives and history, the arts, historic preservation and museums. Its administrative offices are located at the Cultural Center in the State Capitol Complex in Charleston, which also houses the state archives and state museum. The Cultural Center is West Virginia’s official showcase for the arts. The agency also operates a network of museums and historic sites across the state. For more information about the Division’s programs, visit www.wvculture.org. The Division of Culture and History is an Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action Employer.
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