Material · lithic
Novaculite
North America — Southeast
Novaculite is the dense, white to grey microcrystalline quartz rock of the Ouachita Mountains of Arkansas, quarried for tools from Paleoindian times and later for whetstones, and traded to Poverty Point and across the Caddo area. Its quarries near Hot Springs are extensive. Dalton, Gary and Caddo Gahagan bifaces in novaculite are collected.
| Kind | lithic |
|---|---|
| Regions | North America — Southeast |
Sources
The Arkansas Novaculite formation crops out in the Ouachita Mountains around Hot Springs and Magnet Cove, Arkansas, and into southeastern Oklahoma, with aboriginal quarries on Indian Mountain and elsewhere. Cobbles occur in Ouachita and Saline river gravels.
Identification
Novaculite is white, grey, cream or occasionally black or red, opaque to slightly translucent, with a fine granular texture and a dull to waxy lustre; it is harder and less glossy than chert. Heat treatment adds gloss and pink tones. Weathering is minimal.
Substitutes and fakes
Arkansas knappers produce novaculite points, and the stone does not patinate strongly, which makes age hard to judge. Edge wear and provenance are the guides.
Elsewhere
- Wikidata: Q1783184
- Wikipedia: Novaculite
Cite this article
Stratum Strata. "Novaculite" (Material). Stratum Strata pack 2026.09, as of 2026-09-21. https://stratum.black/strata/materials/novaculite. Accessed 2026-09-21.
@misc{stratum-novaculite,
title = {Novaculite},
author = {{Stratum Strata}},
howpublished = {\url{https://stratum.black/strata/materials/novaculite}},
year = {2026},
note = {Material article, Stratum Strata pack 2026.09, as of 2026-09-21; sources: stratum, commons, wikidata. Accessed 2026-09-21.}
} Citations carry the pack version and the article's as-of date so they resolve to the same text later. The facts themselves belong to the sources listed below; cite those for the science.