Early Native Americans in West Virginia: The Fort Ancient Culture

by Darla Spencer

Follow Archaeologist Darla Spencer as she discovers the history and habits of 16 Native American sites in West Virginia.
Once thought of as Indian hunting grounds with no permanent inhabitants, West Virginia is teeming with evidence of a thriving early native population. Today's farmers can hardly plow their fields without uncovering ancient artifacts, evidence of at least ten thousand years of occupation. Members of the Fort Ancient culture resided along the rich bottomlands of southern West Virginia during the Late Prehistoric and Protohistoric periods. Lost to time and rediscovered in the 1880s, Fort Ancient sites dot the West Virginia landscape. This volume explores sixteen of these sites, including Buffalo, Logan and Orchard. Archaeologist Darla Spencer excavates the fascinating lives of some of the Mountain State's earliest inhabitants in search of who these people were, what languages they spoke and who their descendants may be.

Genres: Nonfiction

160 pages, Paperback

Published October 31, 2016

About the author

Darla Spencer is a Registered Professional Archaeologist (RPA). She is Secretary/Treasurer of the West Virginia Archeological Society (WVAS), Vice President of the Council for West Virginia Archaeology, and a participant in the Native American History Council of West Virginia. She has given presentations throughout the state on the early history of Native Americans in the Ohio Valley as well as papers at archaeological conferences throughout the country. Darla has been published in the West Virginia Archeologist, the Quarterly Bulletin of the Archaeological Society of Virginia, and wrote several entries on West Virginia prehistory for the West Virginia Encyclopedia (2006). In 2003, she was awarded the Sigfus Olafson Award of Merit from the WVAS for contributions to the archaeology of West Virginia. Darla developed and taught Introduction to Mound Cultures in 2011 and has taught classes on the early Native peoples of what is now West Virginia and the Ohio River Valley region.

Reviews

[David Wickham · Rating 2 out of 5]

As a former English major, I found it hard to read. The author could have used a good editor to clean up some of the basic writing errors. The author made some conclusions that just weren't supported by the information presented. If you have no idea what a bone needle was used for, don't guess.

The book wasn't too technical for the average reader but the information could have been provided in a way that made it more enjoyable for the average reader. It read more like a check list of what had been found at the various sites. I personally didn't care how many pottery shards were found at each site.

[Michelle D · Rating 5 out of 5]

I picked up this book to learn a little more about the Native Americans in WV. There is a local "Battle Days" event coming up and I wanted to be more informed by what actually occurred instead of relying on reenactments which have white folk portraying NA folk.

[Bill · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting. Glad I read it.

[C. · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book summarizes the findings at many sights, and provides insight into those finds on a limited basis. (Disclaimer: I’m not particularly knowledgeable in the field.) I found it to be easy to understand, but if you’re looking for something prosaic, this isn’t the one for you. If you want a jumping off point into reading about pre-contact native people, this is a great way to compile a further reading list.

There is a YouTube video of the author speaking about this book on the WV Archives page. It’s nice to watch as a follow up.