A Macroscopic Lithic Analysis of South Mountain Metarhyolite Quarries: A Focus on Intersite and Intrasite Assemblage Comparisons of the Green Cabin Site (36AD0569), South Mountain, Pennsylvania

Summary

This is an abstract from the "SAA 2023: Individual Abstracts" session, at the 88th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

Metarhyolite from the South Mountain Section of Pennsylvania has been utilized by indigenous groups in the Middle Atlantic Region since the Archaic Period. The resource has been the focus of widespread quarrying activities, spurring an entire Native American complex of quarries, which are restricted to a relatively confined geographic region where metarhyolite forms. Typically, these quarry sites are located on the upper slopes and ridges of South Mountain, near metarhyolite surface outcrops, and display surficial quarry pit depressions. A partnership between Shippensburg University of Pennsylvania and the Indiana University of Pennsylvania began to examine metarhyolite outcrops found on South Mountain. Excavations at the Green Cabin site (36AD0569) were conducted as part of a mini-grant from the South Mountain Partnership. The site is situated on a south-facing concave slope, within a mass movement feature, which is unique for South Mountain metarhyolite quarries. Kristopher Montgomery, a second-year graduate student at IUP conducted as analysis of lithic artifacts recovered from Green Cabin to discern geologic origin and activity at the site. The research aimed to provide more insight into site function and its relationship to the broader South Mountain quarrying complex.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• SAA 2023: Individual Abstracts   •
• Society for American Archaeology 88th Annual Meeting, Portland, OR (2023)

Keywords

Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 37319.0