Oak Mounds

Prehistoric earthwork mounds in Harrison County, West Virginia, U.S.

The Oak Mounds is a large prehistoric earthwork mound, and a smaller mound to the west. They are located outside Clarksburg, in Harrison County, West Virginia. These mounds have never been totally excavated but they were probably built between 1 and 1000 CE by the Hopewell culture mound builders, prehistoric indigenous peoples of eastern North America. The larger mound is about 12 feet high and 60 feet in diameter. A number of burials of important persons of the culture probably occurred in these mounds.[1]

## The builders

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The Hopewell people, are believed to be the builders, who thrived between 100 BCE and 400 CE, were a fascinating culture that left behind a legacy of impressive earthworks, intricate artifacts, and long-distance trade networks. Imagine vast ceremonial centers like the Newark Earthworks in Ohio, with geometric shapes formed from earthen mounds towering over the landscape. Attributing the Oak Mounds to the Hopewell culture isn't straightforward. While these earthen structures echo some Hopewell characteristics, inconsistencies linger. Carbon dating whispers of an earlier origin, predating the Hopewell by nearly a millennium. Stylistically, the Oak Mounds diverge from the intricate geometries of classic Hopewell earthworks. Limited archaeological investigation adds to the murkiness, leaving room for alternative narratives. Perhaps these mounds represent the handiwork of earlier cultural groups, like the Adena or ancestors of the Mississippian. Until additional research illuminates the shadows, the true builders of the Oak Mounds remain an enigma.[2][3]

## Historical marker

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An incorrectly worded historical marker sign is located on West Virginia Route 98 near the Veterans Administration Hospital. The sign erroneously states the direction the mounds are "[d]irectly to the east" of the sign itself; however, the mounds are actually to the west, on the far side of the West Fork River. The sign's entire inscription reads: "Oak Mounds - Directly to the east are two earthen, domed burial mounds. The larger mound is some sixty feet in diameter and twelve feet high. Excavations in 1969 revealed flint tools, pottery shards and skeletal remains of two individuals. Site dates to about 100 BC, late Woodland Period."[4]

## See also

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* Mound
* Mound builder (people)
* Effigy mound
* Earthwork (archaeology)
* Tumulus \- burial mound
* List of Hopewell sites

## References

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1. ^ WV EXP
2. ^ Oak Mounds" by William S. Webb and Edwin S. Dodd Jr. in West Virginia Archeology (Volume 8, Number 4)
3. ^ "Radiocarbon Dating of Oak Mounds, Harrison County, West Virginia" by D.L. Thurrow in Southeastern Geographer (Volume 18, Number 2)
4. ^ WV Historical sign list

39°15′48″N 80°21′56″W﻿ / ﻿39.26334°N 80.36556°W﻿ / 39.26334; -80.36556

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Hopewellian peoples

* Woodland period
* List of Hopewell sites
* Mound Builders
* List of archaeological periods (North America)

Ohio Hopewell|

* Beam Farm
* Benham Mound
* Cary Village Site
* Cedar-Bank Works
* Dunns Pond Mound
* Ellis Mounds
* Ety Enclosure
* Ety Habitation Site
* Everett Knoll Complex
* Fort Ancient
* Fortified Hill Works
* Great Hopewell Road
* High Banks Works
* Hopeton Earthworks
* Hopewell Culture National Historical Park
* Indian Mound Cemetery
* Keiter Mound
* Marietta Earthworks
* Moorehead Circle
* Mound of Pipes
* Nettle Lake Mound Group
* Newark Earthworks
* Oak Mounds
* Orators
* Perin Village Site
* Pollock Works
* Portsmouth Earthworks
* Rocky Fork Enclosures
* Rocky Fork Mounds
* Seip Earthworks and Dill Mounds District
* Shawnee Lookout
* Shriver Circle Earthworks
* Stubbs Earthworks
* Tremper Mound and Works
* Williamson Mound Archeological District

Crab Orchard culture|

* Carrier Mills Archaeological District
* Cleiman Mound
* Hubele site
* Mann site
* Mount Vernon Site
* O'byams Fort site
* Wilson site
* Yankeetown site

Goodall focus|

* Goodall site
* Norton Mound group

Havana Hopewell culture|

* Albany Mounds State Historic Site
* Dickson Mounds
* Duncan Farm
* Golden Eagle-Toppmeyer Site
* Kamp Mound Site
* Mound House site
* Naples Archeological District
* Naples Mound 8
* Ogden-Fettie Site
* Rockwell Mound
* Sinnissippi Mounds
* Toolesboro Mound Group

Kansas City Hopewell|

* Cloverdale archaeological site
* Renner Village Archeological Site
* Trowbridge Archeological Site

Marksville culture|

* Crooks Mound
* Grand Gulf Mound
* Marksville Prehistoric Indian Site
* Mott Archaeological Preserve

Miller culture|

* Bynum Mound and Village Site
* Ingomar Mound
* Miller Site
* Pharr Mounds
* Pinson Mounds

Point Peninsula complex|

* Lewiston Mound
* Serpent Mounds Park
* LeVescounte Mounds

Swift Creek culture
Santa Rosa-Swift Creek culture

* Crystal River Archaeological State Park
* Etowah Indian Mounds
* Leake Mounds
* Kolomoki Mounds
* Miner's Creek site
* Pierce Site
* Swift Creek mound site
* Third Gulf Breeze
* Yearwood site
* Yent Mound

Other Hopewellian peoples|

* Armstrong culture
* Copena culture
* Fourche Maline culture
* Laurel complex
* Saugeen complex
* Old Stone Fort (Tennessee)

Exotic trade items|

* Copper
* Galena
* Mica
* Fresh water pearls
* Obsidian
* Pipestone
* Sea shells

Related topics
Ancient Monuments of the Mississippi Valley
Black drink
burial mound
Ceremonial pipe
Effigy mound
Hopewell pottery
Hopewell Ceremonial Earthworks
Horned Serpent
Eastern Agricultural Complex
Underwater panther

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Late Woodland cultures

* Mound Builders
* List of archaeological periods (North America)

Sites|

* Baum Site
* Beattie Park Mound Group
* Book site
* Bowen Site (12 MA 61)
* Brinsfield I Site
* Brokaw Site
* Clampitt Site (12-LR-329)
* Fisher site
* Hoye Site
* Little Maquoketa River Mounds State Preserve
* Man Mound
* Memorial Park Site
* Nottingham Site
* Ormond Mound
* St. Croix River Access Site
* Sommerheim Park
* University of Tennessee Agriculture Farm Mound

Cultures|

* Alachua culture
* Avonlea culture
* Clemson Island culture
* Manahoac
* Monongahela culture
* Oliver phase
* Princess Point complex
* Springwells phase
* Suwannee Valley culture
* Weeden Island culture

Related topics
Steuben point
Belle Glade culture
Extreme weather events of 535–536
Fort Ancient culture
Mississippian culture
Oneota
St. Johns culture

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Pre-Columbian North America

Periods
Lithic
Archaic
Formative
Classic
Post-Classic

Archaeological
cultures|

* Adena
* Alachua
* Ancient Beringian
* Ancestral Pueblo (Anasazi)
* Anishinaabe
* Avonlea
* Baytown
* Belle Glade
* Buttermilk Creek complex
* Caborn-Welborn
* Cades Pond
* Calf Creek
* Caloosahatchee
* Clovis
* Coles Creek
* Comondú
* Deptford
* Folsom
* Fort Ancient
* Fort Walton
* Fremont
* Glacial Kame
* Glades
* Hohokam
* Hopewell
* List of Hopewell sites
* La Jolla
* Las Palmas
* Maritime Archaic
* Mississippian
* List of Mississippian sites
* Mogollon
* Monongahela
* Old Cordilleran
* Oneota
* Paleo-Arctic
* Paleo-Indians
* Patayan
* Plano
* Plaquemine
* Poverty Point
* Red Ocher
* Safety Harbor
* Santa Rosa-Swift Creek
* St. Johns
* Steed-Kisker
* Suwannee Valley
* Tchefuncte
* Troyville
* Weeden Island

Archaeological
sites|

* Angel Mounds
* Anzick site
* Bandelier National Monument
* Bastian
* Benson
* Blue Spring Shelter
* Bluefish Caves
* The Bluff Point Stoneworks
* Brewster
* Cahokia
* Candelaria Cave
* Carlisle Fort
* Casa Grande
* Chaco Canyon
* Coso Rock Art District
* Crystal River
* Cuarenta Casas
* Cueva de la Olla
* Cutler
* Eaker
* El Fin del Mundo
* El Vallecito
* Effigy Mounds
* Etowah Indian Mounds
* Eva
* Folsom
* Fort Ancient
* Fort Center
* Fort Juelson
* Four Mounds
* Gila Cliff Dwellings
* Glenwood
* Grimes Point
* Helen Blazes
* Holly Bluff
* Hopewell Culture National Historical Park
* Horr's Island
* Huápoca
* Key Marco
* Kimball Village
* Kincaid Mounds
* Kolomoki Mounds
* Lake Jackson Mounds
* Lehner Mammoth-Kill Site
* L'Anse aux Meadows
* Lynch Quarry Site
* Marksville
* Marmes Rockshelter
* Meadowcroft Rockshelter
* Mesa Verde
* Moaning Cavern
* Moorehead Circle
* Morrison Mounds
* Moundville
* Mummy Cave
* Nodena site
* Ocmulgee Mounds
* Old Stone Fort
* Orwell site
* Paquime
* Painted Bluff
* Parkin Park
* Pinson Mounds
* Plum Bayou Mounds
* Portsmouth Earthworks
* Poverty Point
* Pueblo Bonito
* Rassawek
* Recapture Canyon
* River Styx
* Roberts Island
* Rock Eagle
* Rock Hawk
* Rosenstock Village
* Russell Cave
* Salmon Ruins
* Serpent Mound
* Sierra de San Francisco
* Shell ring sites
* Spiro Mounds
* Stallings Island
* SunWatch
* Taos Pueblo
* Town Creek Indian Mound
* Turkey River Mounds
* Upward Sun River
* Velda Mound
* West Oak Forest Earthlodge
* Wickiup Hill
* Windover
* Winterville
* Wupatki

Human
remains|

* Anzick-1
* Arlington Springs Man
* Buhl Woman
* Kennewick Man
* La Brea Woman
* Leanderthal Lady
* Melbourne Man
* Minnesota Woman
* Peñon woman
* Spirit Cave mummy
* Vero man

Miscellaneous|

* Aridoamerica
* Ballgame
* Black drink
* Ceremonial pipe
* Chanunpa
* Chunkey
* Clovis point
* Container Revolution
* Eastern Agricultural Complex
* Eden point
* Effigy mound
* Falcon dancer
* Folsom point
* Green Corn Ceremony
* Horned Serpent
* Kiva
* Medicine wheel
* Metallurgy
* Mi'kmaq hieroglyphic writing
* Mound Builders
* N.A.G.P.R.A.
* Norse colonization of North America
* Oasisamerica
* Piasa
* Projectile point
* Southeastern Ceremonial Complex
* Stickball
* Three Sisters agriculture
* Thunderbird
* Transoceanic contact
* Underwater panther
* Water glyphs

Related
Genetic history
Pre-Columbian era

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City of Clarksburg

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* Attractions
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* Geography
* Government
* History
* Infrastructure
* Media
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Top subjects|

* Clarksburg History Museum
* Edgewood Manor
* Hazel-Atlas Glass Company
* Italian Heritage Festival
* MTN Craft Film Festival
* Oak Mounds
* Robinson Grand Performing Arts Center
* The Exponent Telegram
* Waldo Hotel
* Waldomore

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