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Prehistory

Welcome to the Prehistory news category at West Virginia Explorer, where you’ll find news and discussion of West Virginia in its prehistoric and protohistoric periods.

Ancient stone walls on Armstrong Mountain no old-timer's tale

A historic marker along U.S. 60 promotes the location of the Mount Carbon Walls.
If you grew up listening to the lore of old-timers in southern West Virginia, chances are you've heard of mysterious stone walls atop Armstrong...

Legend of ancient warpath along the W.Va. Turnpike is fact

The West Virginia Turnpike follows part of an ancient warpath through the West Virginia hills.
Older folks who live in the valley of Paint Creek may recall legends about how the stream was named: an ancient warpath followed it...

Ancient West Virginia forests once a mosaic of landscapes

Forests in what became West Virginia were managed in ways we're only beginning to understand.
Historians once assumed that West Virginia had been shaded by a vast unbroken forest, but an expert on old forests in the Mountain State...

Scholars debunk myth of prehistoric giants in West Virginia

An 1907 article in the Wheeling News helped popularize the ancient giants myth.
This month, I had the opportunity to talk with the lead curator at Grave Creek Mound Archaeological Complex about a prevailing myth in West Virginia...

Kanawha Valley in W.Va. had highest concentration of burial mounds

SOUTH CHARLESTON, W.Va. — The Kanawha Valley in western West Virginia once had the highest concentration of burial mounds in North America, though most...

Think you've found an archaeological site? Here's what to do next

Prehistoric mound at Boaz, WV, Wood County, Mid-Ohio Valley Region
Some of the most common requests fielded by the Council for West Virginia Archaeology come from members of the public who have found what...

Scientists say mysterious carvings in W.Va. are native, not Irish

Historian David Sibray in the 1990s visits ancient inscriptions near Lynco, West Virginia.
LYNCO, W.Va. — Scientists who are studying ancient carvings in West Virginia say stories that propose a non-native origin for prehistoric landmarks ignore evidence...

Join WVExplorer prehistoric landmarks initiative!

Exploring Shawnee Park Mound near Dunbar, West Virginia, for Prehistoric Landmarks Initiative
Burial mounds, mysterious carvings, inexplicable stone walls -- relics of the prehistoric past are found throughout West Virginia, but perhaps too few people know...

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