Jan. 17, 2013
MOUNDSVILLE, W.Va. — Grave Creek Mound Archaeological Complex in Moundsville will kick off its 2013 Lecture/Film series at 7 p.m., Thursday, Jan. 31, with a documentary film titled Ancient America: Eastern Woodlands. The program is free and the public is invited to attend.
The one-hour filmpresents an overview of the prehistoric Native Americans who left their mark on the eastern United States. Narrated by Cherokee actor and Oklahoma native Wes Studi (Dances with Wolves, Last of the Mohicans), the film begins with the Ice Age hunter-gatherers and moves on to people who adopted more agrarian lifestyles. The documentary focuses on earthworks and mounds like the Poverty Point earthworks and the Hopewell culture of the Ohio River Valley. European contact is evident at Emerald Mound in Mississippi that was still being used ceremonially when the early European explorers arrived in the area.
“This marks our fourth year for the Lecture/Film series which is held in conjunction with the Upper Ohio Valley Chapter of the West Virginia Archaeological Society, and I’m sure folks will enjoy this fascinating story of the Native Americans in the Eastern United States,” said David Rotenizer, site manager at Grave Creek Mound.
The series will continue at 7 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 28, with a talk titled “A Snowball’s Chance: Climactic Effects on Native Americans during the Protohistoric Era 1530-1760” with Isaac Emrick, lecturer and Ph.D. candidate at West Virginia University. For more information, contact Andrea Keller at Andrea.K.Keller@wv.gov or (304) 843-4128.
Operated by the West Virginia Division of Culture and History, Grave Creek features one of the largest conical burial mounds built by the Adena people between 250-150 B.C. Exhibits and displays in the Delf Norona Museum interpret what is known about the lives of these prehistoric people and the construction of the mound. The complex also houses the West Virginia Archaeological Research and Collections Management Facility. The museum is open from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday, and from noon to 5 p.m. Sunday. It is closed on Mondays.
The West Virginia Division of Culture and History is an agency within the West Virginia Department of Education and the Arts with Kay Goodwin, Cabinet Secretary. The Division, led by Commissioner Randall Reid-Smith, brings together the past, present and future through programs and services focusing on archives and history, arts, historic preservation and museums. For more information about the Division’s programs, events and sites, visit www.wvculture.org. The Division of Culture and History is an Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action Employer.
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