West Virginia’s Grave Creek Mound hides 2,000-year-old burial chambers from the Adena culture

Grave Creek Mound

Grave Creek Mound stands 62 feet tall in Moundsville, West Virginia. Built between 250-150 BC, it’s the largest burial mound in the United States. The Adena people piled more than 60,000 tons of dirt to build this monument. When first measured in 1838, it reached 69 feet high with a 295-foot base.

The Adena Mound Builders

The Adena weren’t one tribe but many groups living in the Ohio River Valley from 500 BC to 100 CE. They built burial mounds across Ohio, West Virginia, Kentucky, Indiana, and Pennsylvania.

They made pottery, stone pipes, and copper jewelry. Their name comes from an Ohio estate where similar mounds were first studied in the early 1800s.

The Massive Construction Effort

Workers carried thousands of baskets filled with 15-30 pounds of soil each to build the mound. The structure grew over 100 years as more burials were added.

Without wheels, animals, or metal tools, every part of the mound came from human effort. Hundreds of people worked together to complete this massive project.

The Protective Moat

A deep ditch once circled the entire mound. This moat stretched 40 feet wide and 5 feet deep, creating a barrier around the sacred site.

At least one path crossed this ditch to reach the mound. The moat served both for defense and ceremonies. Archaeologist E. Thomas Hemmings found traces of this ditch in the 1970s.

Multiple Burial Chambers

The mound contains burial rooms at different heights. The Adena used important mounds for many generations, adding more earth after each burial.

Each layer shows a separate stage in construction. Important people were buried with special objects. This layered design shows how the mound grew larger over time.

The 1838 Excavation

Abelard Tomlinson and Thomas Biggs dug into the mound on March 19, 1838. They cut two horizontal tunnels and one vertical shaft to reach the burial chambers.

These men looked for treasures rather than knowledge. Their digging destroyed evidence that modern techniques might have preserved. This marked the first exploration of the mound after nearly 2,000 years.

The Lower Burial Vault

The first burial room sat at the mound’s base. This space measured eight by twelve feet and stood seven feet tall.

Log walls lined the chamber with a roof of timber and river stones. Inside lay two bodies—one male and one female. The man was buried with 650 shell beads from distant coastal regions.

The Upper Burial Vault

A second chamber was found higher in the mound in June 1838. This upper room held one male body surrounded by valuable items.

The burial included 1,700 beads, five copper bracelets, and pieces of mica. The copper came from the Great Lakes while the thin, shiny mica traveled from the Appalachian Mountains. The different burial styles show that Adena society had social ranks.

The Controversial Grave Creek Stone

Diggers claimed to find a small stone tablet with strange markings. This “Grave Creek Stone” sparked debate about who built the mounds. Some thought the marks resembled ancient writing from Europe or the Middle East.

This led to wild theories about the mounds’ builders. Most experts now believe the stone was fake, created to draw attention. The stone disappeared after the excavation, making it impossible to study.

The First Mound Museum

Tomlinson enlarged the lower burial chamber and opened America’s first underground museum. Visitors paid 25 cents to enter. The attraction displayed bones and artifacts from the mound.

The museum failed financially and closed by 1847, just two years after opening. The collection was sold to unknown buyers. Most items from the mound have been lost, scattered to private collections without records.

The Mound’s Lost Landscape

Grave Creek Mound once stood among many other mounds. The flat area now covered by Moundsville held numerous smaller earthworks. Joseph Tomlinson found the mound while hunting in 1770.

He bought the land containing many mounds, but most vanished over time. Farming, building, and treasure hunting destroyed these surrounding structures.

Visiting Grave Creek Mound Historical Site

You’ll find Grave Creek Mound at 801 Jefferson Avenue in Moundsville, West Virginia. The adjacent Delf Norona Museum offers free admission with exhibits about the Adena people and regional archaeology.

When you visit, walk the path around the mound’s base for different viewing angles. Inside the museum, don’t miss the interactive displays showing how the mound was built basket by basket.

The archaeological complex welcomes both self-guided and group tours.

Read More on WhenInYourState.com:

• West Virginia’s “Grand Canyon” Has Class IV Rapids, Ancient Forests & the Oldest River in the US
• This West Virginia Town Preserves Civil War Battlefields & An Appalachian Trail Stop
• The “Taj Mahal of America” is a Wondrous Golden Palace Hiding in Rural West Virginia