Quarrying Soapstone

[Charl]

I'm lucky in living in an area where ancient soapstone or steatite quarries were abundant, and, as a result, the wife and I have found many soapstone sherds, a partial bowl that I reassembled, a few soapstone bowl blanks, and quite a few pipe forms. Also, quite a few crude tools that were used to both quarry soapstone and work the finished products.

This photo was taken at one of the quarry sites. It shows bowl forms still attached to the soapstone ledge...



This illustration gives you an idea of how the bowls were created:



Here is one of the bowl forms, found in a corn field located a few miles, as the crow flies, from the largest quarry in the area. This was probably going to be a shallow dish, and who can say why it was abandoned:





The end pick was a crude tool, fashioned quickly, and likely worn out just as quickly, and used to quarry soapstone, as well as craft the finished products of the soapstone industries:

 

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[Charl]

In addition to numerous sherds and artifacts of soapstone, we have found many end picks, both large and small. As I learned in another thread, if you are not a collector where quarries and tools like this are found, these can be overlooked, and even judged to not be artifacts at all. Poor lithics, and this region is indeed lithic poor when compared to the nice cherts, in the form of flint, Jasper, etc., from other regions, as well as the fact that these tools are usually pretty basic, read "crude", and they can be dismissed. But we collect everything that turns up at our sites, so as to develop as complete a site assemblage as possible. No tool is too crude for me to collect. Maybe real crappy hammerstones are an exception.

Our largest end pick, New England argillite, bifacially reduced from a cobble, with cortex or cobble rind visible on both faces:



A smaller end pick, found at a steatite workshop area of one of our fields, and made of Attleboro Red Rhyolite:







Another small end pick, also Attleboro Red Rhyolite. Notice again how the outer cortex of the original pebble is still present. Nothing fancy or refined about these basic flaked tools...



And a decent quartzite end pick, cortex of the original cobble also still visible:





Last is not a quarry tool, might have been a double bitted chipped axe, not sure. But an example of the poor lithics we deal with, I have many points made from this most common rhyolite, Attleboro Red. Again, bifacially reduced from a cobble, lots of cortex still visible on one side where the number and legend is written:





I know my stuff where crude artifacts showing cortex, and found in southern New England, are concerned. If it were not for crude artifacts, I probably would not have half the collection I do, lol....

As mentioned, end picks were also used to peck stones in the creation of hardstone artifacts such as axes:

 

[scruggs]

Thanks for the good info on steatite, I always liked that material. The best I found was only a corner chunk or small side piece.

 

[justonemore]

Good info Charlie, thanks for sharing.

 

[NCPeaches]

Thanks for sharing the info, it's really interesting and gives me a different view on the partial bowl I've found made of it. I've found small smooth pieces of soapstone in the creek and they probably were from another bowl or something. The local archie said what I found was 2,000 to 6,000 years old. I'm wondering if there was a quarry near me but covered by time and erosion. I think it's probable since I live at the base of a mountain range. I do know there is soapstone in the northern mountains but I'm in the southern mountains in my area. Anyway, just my thoughts on it. Very nice info share, loved it.

 

[sandchip]

That first picture is too cool. Wow.

 

[Old Pueblo]

Very nice local finds. It would be awesome to find one of those bowls some time.

 

[rock]

I havent found any quarry sites but have found a few pieces of bowls made from it. Nice examples of the crude ones I find many crude artifacts here but just dont show them often. It makes the nice ones more special when I find one.

 

[captain redbeard]

good bit of information, thanks