Grave Creke Mound is responsible for giving Moundsville its name. This burrial mound is a conical burial mound constructed by the prehistoric Native American cultural the Adena.
The Grave Creek Mound is one of the largest Adena mounds and an impressive sight for any visitor to Moundsville. A massive undertaking, the total effort required the movement of more than 57,000 tons of sand and earth. Construction of the mound took place from about 250-150 B.C. and included multiple burials at different levels within the structure. Originally a ditch about 40 feet wide and five feet deep encircled the mound and at least one causeway led up to the monumental structure. Although Grave Creek Mound is today an isolated feature on the landscape, the flat area now occupied by the city of Moundsville was once covered with small and large mounds and associated earthworks. Unfortunately, these structures and many others all over the region have been destroyed by treasure-hunters and farmers who plowed over these in the past.
The first recorded excavation of the mound took place in 1838 and was conducted by local amateurs. To gain entrance to the mound, two horizontal tunnels and one vertical shaft were dug. This led to the discovery of two burial vaults containing human remains and their grave goods, which may have been placed with them as reminders of the lives they once led, as offerings to the dead, or as equipment for the afterlife. In the 1970s the first professional archaeological investigation of Grave Creek Mound was conducted. This project involved systematically excavating multiple trenches around the base of the mound and extracting soil samples from the mound itself. The data garnered from this investigation provided radiocarbon dates for the mound and evidence for continuous construction by basket-loads of soil.
The Grave Creek Mound is an exceptional site. Although most mounds are much smaller than the Grave Creek Mound, the monumental size must have been an important and purposeful feature of its construction and likely led to its preservation by early landowners. Today, the mound is a vital physical reminder that the landscape was once populated by prehistoric Native American peoples and their mounds, villages, and earthworks.
“Grave Creek Mound Archaeological Complex.” West Virginia Department of Arts, Culture & History, 29 Oct. 2021, https://wvculture.org/explore/grave-creek-mound/.
**Please Noite** Access to the mound is through the museume which is open Tuesday through Saturday 9:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Closed on Sunday's and Monday's
To claim this cache you must first make your way to the top of the mound by using the spiral staircase to climb 69 feet to the top. Once at the top you will need to complete two tasks:
1) First, find the compass stone located in the center of the mound. On one side of this stone can be found a date. Provide me with this date through the message center to confirm you reached the top and found the stone.
2) Second, include one of the following in your log. A photo of yourself with the Moundsville penitentiary visible in the background, a photo of your GPS device with the Moundsville penitentiary visible in the background or a photo of an object with your geocaching name on it with the Moundsville penitentiary visible in the background. It is important that you include this photo in your log, the Moundsville penitentiary must be visible in the background to claim this virtual cache.
Logs that do not meet the requirements are subject to deletion.
Virtual Rewards 3.0 - 2022-2023
This Virtual Cache is part of a limited release of Virtuals created between March 1, 2022 and March 1, 2023. Only 4,000 cache owners were given the opportunity to hide a Virtual Cache. Learn more about Virtual Rewards 3.0 on the Geocaching Blog.