The procurement of quartz as a tool stone

Abstract

The archaeological data suggest that the procurement of quartz was often times not a random or adventitious event, but rather an organized task of exploitation targeting geologic exposures which afforded good quality material in terms of composition, form, and quantity. In the absence of professionally collected data on quartz quarries or quartz extraction areas, an inferential approach can be substituted to afford some clarity to the issue. The study of patterning in recorded archaeological sites with dominant quartz tool stone assemblages can provide the means for identifying the geologic source areas and assist in precisely locating procurement areas.