46-2 Provenancing Bedrock Axe Quarries via Archived, Historical Site Surveys and Collections

Session: Old Collections, New Tricks (Posters)

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Abstract:

The Center for the Investigation of Native and Ancient Quarries (CINAQ), a New York-based non-profit, maintains an extensive repository of antiquarian geological and archaeological data, including maps, mineral collections, and surveyor’s notes. Among these assets is a 10-volume site survey of the central Passaic Basin.  Volume 5 of this survey details a farm site located between Roseland and Pompton Plains, New Jersey, characterized by five spring heads emanating from Mesozoic bedrock.

Recent archival investigations by CINAQ cross-referenced this survey with an unprovenanced antiquarian collection labeled “5 Springs.”  The site survey provided the critical spatial context required to reconnect this collection of approximately 1,000 diagnostic lithic artifacts with its original landscape. The inventory is notable for a high concentration of heavy woodworking tools, including grooved axes, adzes, celts, gouges, and chisels.

Preliminary macroscopic analysis of the groundstone inventory suggested that indigenous populations specifically targeted localized basalt outcrops within the central Passaic Basin for tool production. Subsequent field inspections based on the archived maps confirmed the existence of intact, direct-access bedrock axe quarries—the first documented occurrences of such features in the tri-state area. While the groundstone reflects local quarrying, the flaked stone inventory demonstrates broader regional lithic procurement, including jasper from the south and west, radiolarite cherts from the mid-upper Hudson Valley, nodular cherts from the Wallkill Valley, and argillite from the Flemington, NJ, vicinity.

This study demonstrates the immense scientific potential of "basement collections" that were previously overlooked or maligned. By integrating historical surveyor notes with modern field verification, researchers can identify specific quarry sources and clarify regional patterns of territoriality, trade networks, and the diffusion of indigenous lithic technology. Future research will employ thin-section petrography and mass spectrometry to further refine the provenance of the basalt tools and formally link them to the newly discovered quarry sites and associated fish weir complexes.

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