It is not uncommon for a primate to pick up a stone and use it as a tool. What makes human different from other primates, however, is that humans began shaping the stone to make specific tools such as choppers, knives, scrappers, axes, spear points, and so on. By the time modern humans began their migration into the Americas, they had been making and using a variety of stone tools for millions of years.
With regard to the terminology that archaeologists use in describing stone tools, Julia Stein, in her book Exploring Coast Salish Prehistory: The Archaeology of San Juan Island, writes:
“Archaeologists refer to any stone modified by people as a lithic. There are two ways to sharpen lithics. One is by grinding a rock into a sharp edge on an abrading stone, much as we grind a metal knife blade on a whetstone. These are called ground stone tools. The other method is hitting a rock with a hammer stone (or antler) to detach flakes and create a sharp edge. These are called chipped stone tools.”
Stone tools are neither crude nor inefficient. A blade knapped from obsidian, for example, is sharper than a surgical scalpel and some surgeons use obsidian blades in doing surgery. However, stone blades tend to dull quickly. On the other hand, the sharpness of the blade can be quickly renewed.
One important thing to understand about stone tools is that not all stone can be used in toolmaking. In flintknapping, Indian people needed stones that would break in a predictable fashion and would provide a sharp edge. Albert Goodyear, in his monograph A Hypothesis for the Use of Cryptochrystalline Raw Materials Among Paleo-Indian Groups of North America, reports:
“It is a general geological fact in most places of North America and probably throughout the world that lithic raw materials of even minimal suitability for flaking do not occur evenly over the earth’s surface. In fact, some environments such as coastal plains and alluvial valleys have no lithic raw materials whatsoever.”
This illustration of a stone point made from chert was on display in the Washington State History Museum in Tacoma, Washington.
This illustration of a stone point made from agate was on display in the Washington State History Museum in Tacoma, Washington.
Writing in 1897, archaeologist Thomas Wilson, in his book Arrowpoints, Spearheads, and Knives of Prehistoric Times, puts it this way:
“As all arrowpoints, spearpoints, and knives, except a few of siate, were chipped or flaked into shape and used in that condition, the prehistoric man would naturally seek a material which had the requisites for such working.”
Such material includes obsidian, flint, chert, chalcedony, jasper, quartz, and quartzite. Thus, for thousands of years Native Americans operated quarries to obtain the stone needed for toolmaking. In her article “Tools from the Earth,” in American Indian Places: A Historical Guidebook, Catherine Cameron writes:
“Their quarries were most often simply gravel terraces or rocky streambeds, where they could easily collect pebbles or cobbles, test them for quality, and then fashion them into tools. But they also constructed complex mines with holes, pits, shafts, and tunnels; the debris included tons of broken rock and large stone hammers and hammerstones for rough shaping.”
Trade networks distributed both stones and stone artifacts over long distances. Writing about the Northwest Coast in Stone, Bone, Antler and Shell: Artifacts of the Northwest Coast, Hilary Stewart reports:
“Craftsmen might go far afield to obtain a particular type of stone or trade with another village or nation for the raw material or even the finished implement.”
Obsidian, a natural glass produced by volcanic action, was a valued natural resource for many tribes. In some places it is found in massive flows but is difficult to extract. An active trade in obsidian was going on for several millennia prior to the European invasion. Archaeologist John Whittaker, in his book Flintknapping: Making and Understanding Stone Tools, reports:
“The Hopewell mounds in Ohio contained several hundred pounds of obsidian from the Yellowstone area, and obsidian from the various sources in California was carried across the Sierra Nevada mountains and spread far and wide across the region.”
On the Northwest Coast, obsidian was fairly rare and therefore was a highly valued trade item.
Stone quarries and the trading networks for distributing the stones remained important features of American Indian cultures and economic systems until the fur and hide trade made metal goods from Europe more plentiful.
Some of the larger quarry areas in North America are described below.
Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming
The area that is now encompassed by Yellowstone National Park is an area of ancient volcanic activity and was the source for obsidian which was widely traded. Obsidian from Yellowstone can be found in sites such as Cahokia in Illinois. In an article in American Antiquity, Laura Scheiber and Judson Finley report:
“Artifacts made of Yellowstone obsidian have been found up to 2,400 km east of the Rocky Mountains in mid-continental Hopewell sites. The social context of this exchange remains enigmatic but likely occurred via interactions between hunter-gatherers in the Central Rocky Mountains and northern High Plains and neighboring Plains farmers to the east.”
Alibates Flint Quarries National Monument, Texas
Alibates flint holds a sharp edge and was widely traded on the Great Plains. In a report in Archaeology, Marley Brown writes:
“For some 13,000 years, Native people in the southern Great Plains obtained flint from an outcrop of dolomite chert that straddles the Texas Panhandle’s Canadian River.”
Today the Alibates Flint Quarries National Monument includes more than 730 large quarry pits. In Ancient Ruins of the Southwest: An Archaeological Guide, David Noble writes:
“Besides its fine flaking qualities and hardness, Alibates flint had another characteristic that made it a popular tool-making material: its rainbow colors.”
Alibates flint was used by both Clovis and Folsom hunters.
Schmitt Chert Mine, Montana
Located near present-day Three Forks, this site (24BW559) was being used by Indians in obtaining stone for toolmaking by 3,000 years ago. In his book Six Hundred Generations: An Archaeological History of Montana, Carl Davis reports:
“The quarry covers the top of a bare knoll overlooking the Missouri River and the Horseshoe Hills.”
With regard to the process of mining, Carl Davis reports:
“Digging with split rib, bone splinter, and antler-tine prying tools, wedges, and picks (such tools are found throughout the rock and soil fill in the Schmitt Chert Mine), these miners found quality chert nodules in manganese-stained limestone fissures and cavities.”
With regard to the Indian people who mined chert at the Schmitt Chert Mine, the projectile point styles suggest that the Pelican Lake people—an archaeological designation, not a tribal name—appear to have controlled the mine. Carl Davis writes:
“These people moved between winter camps in sheltered river valleys and summer camps on the hot, windy plains. They were skilled bison hunters. Pelican Lake bands maintained widespread travel networks and trade contracts, as indicated by the presence of distant raw materials, including Knife River Flint from North Dakota, porcellanite or baked shale from southeastern Montana, obsidian from the Yellowstone Plateau, and Pacific coast Olivella seashells.”
Near the quarry was a campsite where people worked the stone into tools.They were also hunting bison, antelope, elk, deer, jackrabbit, skunk, beaver,and turtle.
Knife River, North Dakota
The flint quarries in the Knife River area were being used as early as 11,000 years ago. In an article in North Dakota History, Stanley Ahler reports:
“The flint was widely traded, especially during the Paleo-Indian period (9,500-5500 B.C.) and during the Late Plains Archaic period (1200 B.C.-A.D. 1).”
Stanley Ahler also reports:
“Craftspersons fabricated blades, flake blanks, and preforms at locations such as this. Some of these items were traded to locations as far distant as Ohio and New York state.”
Grand Meadow Chert Quarry, Southeastern Minnesota
This quarry site covered 170 acres and contained an estimated 2,000 quarry pits. The quarry pits, located in a rolling prairie, yielded fine grained gray chert.
Flint Ridge, Ohio
This quarry site, located in Licking County, has a flint bed some 10 to 20 feet beneath the surface. Indian miners would dig pits to get at the flint. Thomas Wilson reports:
“This is probably the most extensive and best known of all prehistoric flint quarries in the United States.”
Michael Durham, in his book Guide to Ancient Native American Sites, writes:
“The translucent flint of various colors is of a quality unmatched in the east. In prehistoric times it was a valuable trade item and samples have been found as far away as Louisiana, the Atlantic Coast, and Kansas City.”
The Flint Ridge Quarry was being used by the Adena people by 1100 BCE.
Big Obsidian Flow, Oregon
Located in the present-day Newberry Volcanic National Monument, the Big Obsidian Flow was an important source of obsidian, a volcanic glass from which very sharp tools could be made. Large chunks of obsidian could be easily broken off from this ancient volcanic flow. Trade routes carried the obsidian from this site into the Northwest Coast and into California.
Wyoming
In central-eastern Wyoming there were numerous small quarries. One of the larger ones was located about 50 miles east of present-day Badger and was worked to a depth of about 20 feet. Indians working at this quarry did some tunneling.
Glass Mountain, California
Located in northern California, Glass Mountain supplied obsidian to many different tribes. In Ancient Tribes of the Klamath Country Carrol Howe reports:
“Evidence indicates that the arrow makers and traders sat around the base of the cliff to chip large flakes or spalls from the glassy stone. These they shaped into large, crude blades called ‘blanks.’”
The blanks were easier to transport and could be then fashioned into the stylized points of the different tribes.
Coso Volcanic Field, California
Located in eastern California, the Coso Volcanic Field was a major site for stone, particularly obsidian, for tool making. In Prehistoric Use of the Coso Volcanic Field Amy Gilreath and William Hildebrandt report:
“The sheer quantity of chipping debris and discarded items found at the major obsidian quarries in eastern California has led many to conclude that production far exceeded the needs of resident populations.”
Tools made from Coso obsidian are found throughout the southern half of California, from Monterey Bay in the north, to the Colorado River in the east, to the Pacific Ocean in the west.
Windy Ridge, Colorado
Indian people quarried quartzite from Windy Ridge near the Continental Divide. In an article in World Archaeology, Douglas Bamforth reports:
“It is clear that aboriginal miners removed great quantities of stone from the ground, although the huge volume of material left on the surface suggests that they were rather selective in transporting stone from the site.”
Florida
Indian people in Florida quarried blue flint from the Trouble Creek area which they used in making arrow points and spear points.
Wyandotte Cave, Indiana
Wyandotte Cave served as both a flint mine and tool-making workshop,
Hatch Quarry, Pennsylvania
By 3350 BCE, Indian people were using the Hatch Quarry (36CE238) as a source for jasper which was used for making stone tools. The quarry was a prospect site as the material is on the surface and the people did not have to dig pits to obtain it.
Benchmark Site, Georgia
By 1800 BCE, Indian people were quarrying steatite from the Benchmark site on Soapstone Ridge near present-day Atlanta. The soft stone was carved into a variety of tools and implements, including bowls, which were traded as far as the Poverty Point site in Louisiana. In a report in American Archaeology, Alan Gruber writes:
“Archaeologists believe that the bowls were mostly complete when they were transported, but that the decorative incising work on the bowls was finished once they arrived at their final destination.”
More Ancient America
Ancient America: A very brief overview of the Hopewell moundbuilders
Ancient America: Avonlea, the early bow hunters
Ancient America: Paquime, trading center between the Southwest and Mexico
Ancient America: Astronomy
Ancient America: Effigy Mounds
Ancient America: The Marmes Rockshelter
Ancient America: A very short overview of the prehistory of the Grand Canyon
Ancient America: Kennewick Man (The Ancient One)