Sampling of the fill in the quarry was accomplished by inserting a 4" PVC pipe, shown in the picture above. Samples were extracted every 1" and the PVC was pushed another inch into the fill until samples had been taken down to the maximum depth of the fill which was19".
Carbon from burnt wood found at the 19" depth was dated by Beta Analytical and produced a date of 2490 BP. This placed the activity in this part of the quarry in the Middle Archaic period.
The sampling was done in the dark using red-light. This was done to avoid "bleaching" the quartz sand in the samples so that OSL dating could be performed. The quartz sand from several sample depths has been prepared for OSL dating. These samples are currently being measured by the USGS OSL Lab in Denver, Colorado. Results should be available and will be posted later this year.
Material from this quarry is primarily a grey chert but small amounts of pink, blue, and white chert also occur in the quarry. Atomic spectra of the material from this quarry have been obtained using LIBS (laser induced breakdown spectroscopy) provided by ATSAA. Markers have been developed that will be used in sourcing lithic materials in the region as part of a thesis in progress.
