Grave Creek Mound Archaeological Complex in Moundsville will continue its monthly lecture and film series on Thursday, October 22 at 7 p.m. with a program titled “Taking the Waters: An Archaeological View of Mineral Springs Resorts in West Virginia.” Nancy O’Malley, assistant director at the William S. Webb Museum of Anthropology in Lexington, Ky., will present the lecture. The program is free and open to the public.
Mineral springs resorts were the playgrounds of the Southern elite and other affluent people prior to the Civil War. West Virginia resorts were part of the Virginia Springs circuit that attracted thousands of visitors who came to drink and bathe in the therapeutic waters, socialize and reaffirm their elite social status. The evening’s talk summarizes the results of surveys conducted at six of West Virginia’s mineral springs resorts: Barger Springs, Summers County; Blue Sulphur Springs, Greenbrier County; Pence Springs, Summers County; and Red Sulphur Springs, Salt Sulphur Springs, and Sweet Springs, all in Monroe County.
O’Malley has served as assistant director of the William S. Webb Museum of Anthropology since 2000. The museum, founded in 1931, acquires and maintains anthropological collections, supports anthropological research and disseminates anthropological knowledge. Its extensive holdings serve to link the past, present and future.
“This project is an excellent example of historic archaeology conducted within the State of West Virginia,” said Jeremy Kohus, Grave Creek site manager. “Many people equate archaeology with prehistoric archaeology, especially here at the mound, which is a prehistoric site. In West Virginia, historic archaeologists study frontier forts, early settlements and industrial sites like coal and salt mines.”
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.
