SOUTH CHARLESTON, W.Va. — Rising above the end of this city’s central avenue, the prehistoric Criel Mound—one of the largest burial mounds in West Virginia—has long captivated both onlookers and archaeologists alike. “The Criel mound is the only mound in the area with a central burial surrounded by other burials,” he says. Four known remaining mounds are the Criel Mound, the Wilson Mound in Institute, the Shawnee Mound in Dunbar, and a flat-topped mound adjacent to Sunset Memorial Park.