2,500-Year-Old Cemetery In South Charleston Honors West Virginia's Ancients

Downtown South Charleston, West Virginia is a hopping place, filled with restaurants, stores, businesses, boutiques, and more… including one very old, very prominent Criel Mound, an Ancient Indian burial site dating all the way back to 500 B.C.

There's plenty to see and do in South Charleston, West Virginia. Located in the Kanahwa River Valley just across the river from West Virginia's capital city, South Charleston boasts a variety of industry, business, dining and shopping options, riverfront views, and historic sites.

And perhaps the best known of the historic sites in the city of South Charleston is the Criel (Creel) Mound. In fact, it's not an exaggeration to say that the Criel Mound is the focal point of the whole downtown area.

And well it should be, as this towering mound pays tribute to those who lived here long before we did - the Kanawha Valley Mound Builders, members of the Adena people group.

They built this mound millenia ago, by hand. Archaeologists estimate that the South Charleston Mound was constructed with more than one million basketfuls of earth. Can you imagine? And this is just one mound of more than four dozen in the nearby Kanawha Valley area!

The Criel Mound was constructed as an ancient cemetery; when it was excavated in the 1800s, more than a dozen skeletons were found inside, in very specific arrangement.

Now, the skeletons are gone, but the mound still stands silent witness to their lives and legacy. Climb these steps. Take in the view from the top. Ponder the stories this pile of dirt could tell.

Have you ever visited the Criel Mound, located at 301 7th Avenue? Do you know much of the history of the people who lived in this area of West Virginia over 2,000 years ago? Thanks to a variety of signage at the base of the mound, this is an excellent place to start learning, as is the Delf Norona Museum in Moundsville.

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Criel Mound, 301 7th Ave, South Charleston, WV 25303, USA

There's A 2,500-Year-Old Cemetery In Downtown South Charleston That Honors West Virginia's Ancient People

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