A Montana State University field crew conducted archaeological investigations at the Camp Baker Quarry in central Montana. Work accomplished by a six-person crew over a ten-day period consisted of detailed planimetric mapping of the quarry area and test excavations on the edges of two quarry pits. The excavations yielded a limited number of formed artifacts and approximately 14,000 pieces of debitage. Analysis of the debitage resulted in the conclusion that work in that portion of the quarry examined consisted primarily of raw material extraction, testing of raw material for quality, removal of undesirable portions from the extracted blocks, and the production of blocky cores and flake blanks for subsequent tool manufacture at other locations. The project found virtually no evidence for biface core production, tool manufacture, or tool maintenance.
An ancillary part of the project involved foot reconnaissance of BLM lands surrounding the Camp Baker Quarry’. Limited reconniaissance was initiated in the summer of 2001 and continued on an intermittent basis through autumn 2002. Significantly, a nearly continuous band of quarry pits stretch for about 3.5 km southwest from Camp Baker. The reconnaissance also discovered a number of very large concentrations of flaking debris and several small tipi-ring sites on south and east facing open slopes overlooking the Smith River. The area surrounding the Camp Baker Quarry must have been an important location for stone acquisition and other activities.
A cooperative endeavor with M.D. Glascock and R. J. Speakman of the Archaeometry Laboratory at the University of Missouri Research Reactor resulted in chemical characterization of toolstone from the Camp Baker Quarry’ with laser-ablation-inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry (LA-ICP-MS). Encouraging initial results led to expansion of the project to include tool stones from two additional quarries in the Smith River Area and five other quarries in southwestern Montana. At present, the results are inconclusive, but offer intriguing possibilities for future research characterizing tool stone sources in Montana and elsewhere