July 6, 2018
MOUNDSVILLE, W.Va. — Grave Creek Mound Archaeological Complex in Moundsville announces summertime activities planned for July. Families can join in Story Time with the Moundsville Public Library, make a craft at the museum’s Discovery Table, view the Second Saturday film, and visit the exhibit Historic Images of the Grave Creek Mound. All events are free and open to the public.
As part of the Complex’s Second Saturday film series, Time Team America: Fort Raleigh, NC will be shown on July 14 at 1 and 3 p.m. The Time Team takes on the mysterious disappearance of the first group of English colonists who arrived on Roanoke Island in 1586. When English supply ships arrived three years later, they found the settlement empty. The colonists left behind a single clue: the word “Croatoan” carved in the gatepost of their fort. Three days of archaeological investigation shed light on one of America’s historic mysteries as the team completes its mission. The film is one hour long.
On Wednesday, July 18, Grave Creek will host Story Time with Kayla Grose from the Moundsville Public Library. Participants will be treated to stories, games, crafts and a snack. The program will be held from 11 a.m. – noon. Participants are asked to pre-register by calling Grose at (304) 845-6911.
Throughout the month, the museum’s Discovery Table will be supplied with plastic water bottles and materials to be transformed into rattles. The rattling sound will be produced by inserting seeds from the museum’s Interpretive Garden as well as acorns, pieces of wood and other items. The rattle can be decorated with strips of colorful tape, stickers and yarn. A contemporary rattle made by John Redeye of the Seneca Nation is on display in the museum’s archaeology lab observation window.
In addition, the exhibit Historic Images of the Grave Creek Mound will feature photographs and other images of the Mound in the downstairs entryway.
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.
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 Department of Arts, 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.
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