Jan. 18, 2018
MOUNDSVILLE – W.Va. – The Grave Creek Mound Archaeological Complex in Moundsville announces activities for January and February. All programs are free and open to the public.
Throughout January, visitors can make a craft at the museum’s Discovery Table during regular museum hours. The craft of the month invites guests to make a friendly snowman picture. Families can get out of the cold and assemble a snowman from a variety of craft materials in the warm comforts of the museum.
The Complex’s monthly film series will continue Thursday, Jan. 25 at 7 p.m. with “Ghost Ships of the Great Lakes.” The film follows author and historian Brendon Baillod and a team of elite technical divers as they investigate two historic shipwrecks in the depths of Lake Michigan and Lake Superior. Among the stories is about a woman who experienced life and ultimately death on the waters of the Great Lakes.
February activities will begin with “Green Up Your Winter Blues” on Saturday, Feb. 3 from noon to 4 p.m. Guests can beat the winter blues with some garden-related activities. Help us shell beans and shuck corn from the museum’s Interpretive Garden, make a cornhusk doll, propagate a baby plant and get garden advice from a master gardener.
Beginning Thursday, Feb. 1 until Wednesday, Feb. 28, visit the museum’s Discovery Table create a post card you can send to a friend. Special supplies for Valentine’s Day postcards will be available Feb. 1-14.
As part of the Second Saturday Film Series on Feb. 10, the complex will show “Prince Among Slaves.” The film is about the remarkable true story of Abdul Rahman Ibrahima Sori, an African prince enslaved in the American South who endured the humiliation of slavery without ever losing his dignity or hope for freedom. The 60-minute film will show at 1 and 3 p.m.
On Thursday, Feb. 22 at 7 p.m., celebrate George Washington’s birthday with a showing of “The Real George Washington,” a film that reveals the man behind the myth. This National Geographic film joins an excavation team at Washington’s childhood home, and features a forensic recreation involving scientists and artists as they create a realistic image of Washington’s face.
Visitors can also tour the complex’s many exhibits, including The Buried Past: Artifacts from West Virginia’s Wild, Wonderful History, which showcases a series of West Virginia archaeological sites selected from the curation facility, and Prehistoric West Virginia, which features casts of some of the large Ice Age animals that once roamed West Virginia and a cast of a skull of a stag moose.
Operated by the West Virginia Division of Culture and History, Grave Creek Mound Archaeological Complex features one of the largest conical burial mounds built by the Adena people between 250 - 150 B.C. and ranks as one of the largest earthen mortuary mounds anywhere in the world. 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.
Admission to Grave Creek Mound Archaeological Complex is free. The Delf Norona Museum, located at 801 Jefferson Avenue, is open from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday and closed Sunday and Monday. Outdoor access closes at 4:30 p.m. and availability is weather permitting.
For more information about activities and programs at Grave Creek Mound, contact Andrea Keller, cultural program coordinator, at (304) 843-4128 or andrea.k.keller@wv.gov or visit www.facebook.com/gravecreekmound and www.twitter.com/gravecreekmound.
The West Virginia Division of Culture and History is an agency within the Office of Secretary of Education and the Arts with Gayle Manchin, 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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