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MOUNDSVILLE, W.Va. – Grave Creek Mound Archaeological Complex in Moundsville announces programs and events for August. Throughout the month, visitors can enjoy activities such as the Featured Artist of the Month exhibit, making mammoth puppets at the museum’s Discovery Table, Story Time and a film. All programs are free and open to the public.

Schedule of August Programs

Saturday, Aug. 11, 1 and 3 p.m. – Second Saturday Film, “Making North America: Origins.” One-hour long episode accompanying Kirk Johnson, director of the Smithsonian Museum of Natural History, as he travels the continent to find out how it was shaped and how it shaped the people who inhabited it.
Wednesday, Aug. 15, 11 a.m. – noon, Kayla Grose from the Moundsville Public Library will treat youngsters ages 3-8 years old with stories, games, crafts and a snack. Please preregister by calling Grose at the library at (304) 845-6911.
Discovery Table – “Mammoth Puppets,” transform a paper bag into an image of this majestic creature. Available during regular museum hours.
Featured Artist of the Month – Kyle Carpenter, a 17-year-old upcoming senior at Paden City High School, is this month’s featured artist. Self-taught with no formal training, Carpenter has been painting for about a year. You can see his work during regular museum hours.

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 form 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 stag moose’s skull.

Operated by the 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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