High quality rhyolite

[rockheadhunter421]

High quality flake

Here is that high quality material that I found at a secondary quarry site, north of Morrow Mountain in Randleman, NC. I had more pieces but I gave them away. I found a scraper there, a few more worked flakes and a nice St. Albans but they were not the same material as this. Notice how that flake has a semi-translucent greenish color. I believe the actual type of material that I found there is called green metasiltstone which is not technically rhyolite but originates from a metasedimentary process. However, I've heard many collectors call it the "high quality rhyolite" which is given it's name for it's high quality flaking. Heck, I've heard a few people call it that Gucci! Lol! I really wish I could find a whole preform or tool made of it. I went there back in January and there was frost on the ground when I got there. So it wasn't the best conditions for me. Next time, I go back me and my buddy is gonna dig and sift. He was the one who shared the site with me. There was raw rhyolite and flake all over the embankment there. This high quality material is amazing so I would be excited to get a chance to go back.

 

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[ncnurseryman]

Sometimes I find small bits of banded rhyolite it's so nice I keep all I find. You have some nice pieces there.

 

[rockheadhunter421]

Thanks nurseryman! There is banded and there is flow-banded also. Some people call it the same but it's the only two kinds of banded I have seen before. Both are great to find!

 

[rock]

Looks like Chert to me. I find the black Chert/ Flint here.

 

[rockheadhunter421]

Looks like Chert to me. I find the black Chert/ Flint here.

That's right! It is very similar to chert, from what I've read. Hmmm....surprise?

 

[rock]

See if this piece looks like yours. I think its a point or a scraper.

 

[rockheadhunter421]

Yea I think that is. The visible cortex makes it look almost identical also. You find that in your neck of the woods? It appears to be early archaic and a Kirk type (IMO).

 

[rock]

Yeah I found in a field in my area. Found it last yr. I think the disc cut the top off though. They are spraying the weeds down getting ready for the planting now. I hope to find some new pieces when the weeds die. That piece is the only one I have found in that color though. Its near a creek that is deep enough for a trading spot for the Indians. I have found so many different types of lithics in that area.

 

[rockheadhunter421]

That is definitely a major traded lithic material then. I'm pretty sure it's the type that I've read about that can be found at least 500 miles away from it's original source in the Uhwarrie Mtns. Also, I have found small, thumbnail-size flakes of it in Stokes Co. (same field I found that Yadkin/Peedee point) which is about 80 miles away from that quarry. I haven't found a point of it yet but I know from field experience that it's existence is very scattered.

 

[NC field hunter]

Rhyolite is closer to obsidian than it is chert. Rhyolite is a volcanic matter where chert is a composition of organisms or fossils. It is my understanding that rhyolite will not replace wood in the process of petrifying. If I'm wrong here , let me know. I think I'm correct, however. You guys are correct, rhyolite does look like Dover chert or other darker cherts. The look is close, but the science between to two are totally opposite. Chert and flint in NC is rare. Chert/flint artifacts, in my experience, have been predominantly paleo and transitional (hardaway/dalton). I have found a few archaic pieces of chert. Chert picks up again in contact dated artifacts. This is my experience and observation.

 

[rockheadhunter421]

Yea you are right buddy. Silicified shale and chert is both similar too. I know where an ancient silicified shale quarry used to be along the Yadkin River. It derived from the collection of aquatic organisms at the bottom of that Iapetus Ocean (I think). That quarry is also known as the Lime Rock Quarry where there are crystalline limestones and semi-precious stones. I'm actually talking about this material I found in Randolph Co. (at a Paleo quarry), which is green metasiltstone being very similar to chert, which originates from a metasedimentary process. It is similar too, right?

 

[NC field hunter]

I would say you are correct. I was pointing out what you obviously already know. The difference between meta sedimentary stone and volcanic. I actually know very little about the geology, and should not have replied to this post in the first place. Lol! It looks like you have a good Handel on the subject. The green stone you mention, is it Savannah river greenstone? I'm not sure I'm even familiar with the mineral you mentioned. Nice thread!!

 

[rockheadhunter421]

I don't know what Savannah River greenstone is. This material green metasiltstone is rare! It is hard to find a whole artifact of it. My buddy found a nice preform at that secondary quarry site of it. All other pieces I found there are flakes, broken knives/scrapers, or burins/gravers. My buddy and I are wanting to dig and sift that secondary site to get to a sweet spot where we could maybe find something whole. Then I'm also talking about the silicified shale which is rare also. The reason it is rare is b/c of it's calcium composition. And like you said NC acidic soil conditions really break down that material. I have a Lar Hothem ID guide and I see a silicified shale Clovis found in Surry Co. valued at $1500. I am trying hard just to find a sample of it or a Clovis base of that silicified shale. I bet if I could find just the base, I should value it at $500. Lol!

 

[yakker]

Wow- good thread! I had no idea rhyolite could be so nice. I always see the rough grey-blue stuff, the multitude of Morrow Mt. points never looked like that! Thanks for all the good information- and for sharing your finds! Yakker

 

[rockheadhunter421]

Wow- good thread! I had no idea rhyolite could be so nice. I always see the rough grey-blue stuff, the multitude of Morrow Mt. points never looked like that! Thanks for all the good information- and for sharing your finds! Yakker

I hope I'm not wrong, but I believe what I have pictured above is not technically rhyolite (metavolcanic rock). I think it's green metasiltstone (metasedimentary rock). People can easily gets these forms of materials confused though. Both were quarried in the Uhwarrie Mtns, with Morrow Mtn. being the most important quarry identified in the Piedmont of NC. There are many forms of rhyolite there (even some lesser grade forms) that can be confused with Morrow Mtn. rhyolite. The lesser grades cannot be ruled out as a potential source of raw material either. True Morrow Mtn rhyolite (aphryic rhyolite) is a dark gray color and commonly displays flow-banding. Here are two links:
1.) Uwharries Lithics Conference: Dr. Randy Daniel and Morrow Mtn
2.) http://www.rla.unc.edu/publications/NCarch/SIS_45(e-book).pdf (I haven't read it all, but pages 1-25 have some good info plus it has some more info about chert found in NC)

 

[alaldrid]

Nice articles. Here is a pic of a point I found made of high quality black ryolite, I think. Found in southern piedmont of nc.

 

[rockheadhunter421]

Wow! That is an exceptional Kirk CN! That is definitely a quality rhyolite! Love those serrations also!! Awesome find bud!!