This posting relates to the Grave Creek Mound and to the Grave Creek Mound Archaeological Complex in Moundsville, West Virginia, which is the largest and most famous conical mound in the USA. Below is a map of that complex together with our decipherment of it, which we explain further below:
The major bright stars of Cygnus are shown via the superb astronomy software Starry Night Pro (http://astronomy. starrynight.com/) and their location is compared to the Moundsville Grave Creek Mound and appurtenant earthworks.
We find that the Grave Creek Mound marked the bright star Deneb in a group of stars we today call the constellation of Cygnus, the Swan. The entire complex of mounds and earthworks at Moundsville marked the brightest stars of Cygnus. Neighboring mounds, as shown later, marked nearby stars in the heavens.
Please note that the Swan in past eras was seen as a different flying bird by various cultures. Ancient Greeks knew it simply as a bird, while the Arabs saw it as a flying eagle or hen. Richard Hinckley Allen in Star Names: Their Lore and Meaning examines those and other alternatives. The bright stars of Cygnus so nearly represent a bird in flight that it is no wonder that most cultures have seen a large flying bird at this location, also apparently in Native America.
Two maps of the Grave Creek Mound Archaeological Complex were consulted to make our own map illustration, which may or may not correctly include Lyra:
Many people think such mounds in Native America were constructed as burial mounds, which may not be true. We shall show that many of these mounds were originally landmarks, trail markers and land survey points, oriented by stars in sky, perhaps having some related funerary or ceremonial use, originally or afterwards, but not such a use principally. Native America had geographic markers oriented by the "starry night", much as water navigation takes place via buoys and other "markers". Land travel too requires landmarks.
The State of West Virginia proclaims that The Past Still Matters Today and writes as follows about "the Woodland Period" to which the Grave Creek Mound Archaeological Complex is assigned:
THIS POSTING IS Posting Number 2 of
The Great Mound, Petroglyph and Painted Rock Art Journey of Native America
The Grave Creek Mound Archaeological Complex in Moundsville, West Virginia as a Landmark Oriented to Cygnus the Swan
The major bright stars of Cygnus are shown via the superb astronomy software Starry Night Pro (http://astronomy. starrynight.com/) and their location is compared to the Moundsville Grave Creek Mound and appurtenant earthworks.
We find that the Grave Creek Mound marked the bright star Deneb in a group of stars we today call the constellation of Cygnus, the Swan. The entire complex of mounds and earthworks at Moundsville marked the brightest stars of Cygnus. Neighboring mounds, as shown later, marked nearby stars in the heavens.
Please note that the Swan in past eras was seen as a different flying bird by various cultures. Ancient Greeks knew it simply as a bird, while the Arabs saw it as a flying eagle or hen. Richard Hinckley Allen in Star Names: Their Lore and Meaning examines those and other alternatives. The bright stars of Cygnus so nearly represent a bird in flight that it is no wonder that most cultures have seen a large flying bird at this location, also apparently in Native America.
Two maps of the Grave Creek Mound Archaeological Complex were consulted to make our own map illustration, which may or may not correctly include Lyra:
- Henry Schoolcraft prepared a map in 1851 (Plate 39) of the Grave Creek area mounds and earthworks, shown as Figure 2 in the National Register of Historic Places Registration Form (March 20, 1990 -- National Historic Landmark). Grave Creek Mound is labelled as the "Large Mound." The Register dates it to 300 to 200 B.C.
- A modernized ground plan map, apparently based on Schoolcraft, as found at http://megalithomania-america.blogspot.com/. This map would seem to have four stars of Lyra included whereas Schoolcraft's may not. This is not crucial here as Lyra is represented by another mound location elsewhere.
Many people think such mounds in Native America were constructed as burial mounds, which may not be true. We shall show that many of these mounds were originally landmarks, trail markers and land survey points, oriented by stars in sky, perhaps having some related funerary or ceremonial use, originally or afterwards, but not such a use principally. Native America had geographic markers oriented by the "starry night", much as water navigation takes place via buoys and other "markers". Land travel too requires landmarks.
The State of West Virginia proclaims that The Past Still Matters Today and writes as follows about "the Woodland Period" to which the Grave Creek Mound Archaeological Complex is assigned:
"The period is also associated with the use of burial mounds and other earthworks.... The largest extant burial mounds in West Virginia can be found in Moundsville and South Charleston. The Grave Creek Mound in Moundsville was named a National Historic Landmark in 1966 and the Criel Mound in South Charleston was listed in the National Register of Historic Places in 1970."The start of the "Woodland Period" was ca. 1000 B.C., but archaeologists date the Grave Creek Mound somewhat later to ca. 300 to 200 B.C., which will be an important date for the analysis which follows in subsequent postings.
THIS POSTING IS Posting Number 2 of
The Great Mound, Petroglyph and Painted Rock Art Journey of Native America
The Grave Creek Mound Archaeological Complex in Moundsville, West Virginia as a Landmark Oriented to Cygnus the Swan
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