Science in Practice Portal

The Lake Range Quarry site (26 WA 3012), threatened by proposed mining activities, was surface collected and test excavated by archaeologists from the Bureau of Land Management and the Nevada State Museum. Quarrying activities and lithic reduction processes of raw chert material were investigated using a set of hypotheses tested with artifacts from the site. The artifacts consisted of large first stage reduction bifaces, hammers tones, and a high percentage of flake debitage and shatter. Results of the study show that the primary activity occurring on the site was the testing and acquisition of raw chert material. First stage bifaces appear to have been the preferred product for transport away from the site.