SOURCING QUARTZITE DEBITAGE FROM THE LITTLE ROCK POND ARCHAEOLOGICAL SITE, MOUNT TABOR, VERMONT

The Little Rock Pond (LRP) archaeological site, located on Mount Tabor, Rutland County, Vermont, was discovered ~30 years ago and has since yielded thousands of quartzite flakes produced from the manufacturing of stone tools by Early Archaic Native Americans. The quartzite flakes range from 21-58mm wide, 3-16mm thick, and vary in color from white to brown. The goals of this study were to determine: 1) If the nearby Cambrian Cheshire Formation and/or Cambrian Dalton Formation were the sources of quartzite used for tool production, and 2) If quartzite flakes from the LRP site and the Warren Falls (WF) archaeological site (9.5km north of LRP) were sourced from the same lithologic unit(s). Oxygen stable isotope analysis and petrologic characterization of quartzite samples from LRP, WF, and outcrops were completed.

Transmitted light microscopy reveals that quartzite samples from each rock formation are made predominantly of quartz, with only the Dalton Formation containing some feldspar grains. Our preliminary lithologic analysis shows that most (80%) of the flakes from the LRP site were derived from Cheshire Formation quartzite; the remaining samples resemble Dalton Formation quartzite.

Twenty-three quartzite flakes from outcrops, LRP site, and the WF site yield δ¹⁸O_VSMOW isotope values ranging from +11.22 to +13.11‰. Oxygen stable isotope values of quartzite flakes verified as from either Dalton Formation or Cheshire Formation via transmitted light microscopy (n=10) show that Dalton Formation quartzite (δ¹⁸O_VSMOW = +12.39‰ avg., n=4) is isotopically indistinguishable from Cheshire Formation quartzite (δ¹⁸O_VSMOW = +12.32‰ avg., n=6) despite the slight mineralogical difference.

There is no apparent correlation between quartzite color, O stable isotope signature, and source outcrop.