Cobble Reduction and Tool Manufacturing along the Atlantic Coastal Plain: An Example from Prince George's County, Maryland

Summary

Cobble extraction and systematic lithic reduction activity areas are commonly found along the Atlantic coastal plain from the Early Archaic through Woodland periods. This process, typically involving the collection of high quality quartz and quartzite cobbles for processing, was documented 100 years ago by William Henry Holmes for the Piney Branch quarries in Washington, D.C. Excavations conducted by TRC at the Accokeek sand and gravel mine in 2014 identified 12 archaeological sites, two of which (18PR1079 and 18PR1081) were further examined through Phase II investigation in 2017. Excavations yielded large quantities of quartz and quartzite debitage and staged bifaces likely sourced from exposed cobble beds in an adjacent streambed. The sites represent intensive lithic reduction activity areas dating from the Early Archaic through the Early Woodland periods. The predominance of locally available raw material in the lithic assemblage indicates extraction of local raw materials and on-site cobble reduction and tool manufacturing. Several contemporaneous sites that also represent local raw material extraction areas and cobble reduction stations are located in the project area vicinity. Analysis of the lithic assemblage from this extraction site furthers our understanding of cobble reduction activity in a broader perspective of Atlantic coastal plain sites.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 83rd Annual Meeting, Washington, DC (2018)

Keywords

Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 22067