The Early Woodland period (1000-200 B.C.) saw three big changes: making pottery, building burial mounds, and the emergence of extensive trade networks. Pottery appeared around 1000 B.C. West Virginia has recorded more than 400 prehistoric mounds built by ancient people. They are mostly made of earth or stone and are found along major river valleys, like the Kanawha, Ohio, and Potomac. One of the biggest mounds is in South Charleston. The Grave Creek Mound in Moundsville is the largest earthen mound in North America.

The Adena were hunters, gatherers, and horticulturalists, who built mounds over the bodies of important people, such as chiefs and shamans. The mounds were built in stages, with some containing structures such as log tombs. Many Adena burial mounds contained exotic goods such as copper from the Great Lakes, shell beads from the Gulf Coast, and mica from the southern Appalachians. During this time, people started growing and domesticating more plants such as sunflowers and maygrass.

In the 1800s, the "Moundbuilders Myth" claimed that a lost civilization had built the mounds. Some thought the builders were giants. In the 1890s, the Smithsonian Institution proved through extensive excavations that ancestors of historic Indians built the mounds.

Burial mounds continued to be built, but large earthworks, similar to Hopewell were not common. Indians continued living in scattered hamlets and mound building was not as prominent, although Fairchance Mound in Marshall County, had a large burial mound associated with its settlement.

The Late Woodland period (400-1200 A.D.) marked a time of change. The extensive trade networks no longer existed, and exotic goods were no longer found at sites. People increasingly relied on farming, especially corn. Small farmsteads were common, with some, such as the Childers Site in Cabell County and Watson Farm in Hancock County, being large but seasonally occupied. The bow and arrow were introduced by Algonquian populations from the north around 700 A.D., and corn began to be cultivated between 700 and 1200 A.D. Additionally, small triangular arrow points began to appear.