Grave Creek Mound Archaeological Complex in Moundsville will host a lecture presented by Kate Wietor titled “Middle Class Victorian Wheeling: Revisiting the Victorian Wheeling Collection” at 1 p.m. on Saturday, June 25, 2022. The program is free and open to the public.
Wietor is an AmeriCorps member serving with Wheeling Heritage who also currently volunteers in the archaeology lab of the Grave Creek Mound Archaeological Complex. She has been working on a collection of artifacts recovered in 2001 from the proposed footprint of the Federal Annex building in Wheeling. Bottles, dishware, toiletry items and craft supplies recovered from privies found at the site offer insight into the lives of Victorian Wheeling’s middle class. Wietor takes a fresh look at this collection and shares insights she has gained from this work.
READ MORE: The Trash and Treasure of Wheeling’s Privies
As an AmeriCorps member at Wheeling Heritage, she researches and writes historical content for Weelunk, the online magazine dedicated to sharing Wheeling’s story. Before coming to Wheeling, Wietor graduated from James Madison University in Harrisonburg, Va., with a Bachelor of Science. She has a background in food and farming, and enjoys investigating the relationship between people and the land they occupy.
Operated by the West Virginia 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 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday and closed Sunday and Monday. Access to the Mound and other outdoor areas closes at 4:30 p.m.
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.
