Reassembling the Quarry: Quartzite Procurement and Reduction along the Potomac

Abstract

This article presents the results of a refitting study performed on lithic artifacts from 44LD124, a quartzite quarry in Loudoun County, Virginia. Spatial variation in quarry debris and refits demonstrated differences in intrasite reduction strategies. In one section of the site, where fire-altered quartzite debris occurred, twenty sets of refits were obtained, fifteen of which bore signs of fire-cracking or heating. In another part of the site, eleven groups of debitage were reassembled, reforming cobbles and boulders. To examine the technological and spatial consequences of various reduction techniques, quartzite percussion experiments were conducted. The technological, spatial and experimental analyses suggested that some of the reassembled groups were reduced by anvil and hammerstone percussion, in a high position from the ground, likely employing standing or kneeling stances. The findings derived from analysis of the 44LD124 materials provide information regarding quartzite procurement in the Virginia Piedmont and the Potomac River drainage.