Material · lithic
Hixton silicified sandstone
North America — Eastern Woodlands
Hixton silicified sandstone is the sparkling, sugary-textured orthoquartzite of Silver Mound in Jackson County, Wisconsin, used from Paleoindian times and traded through the Upper Midwest. Paleoindian and Archaic points in Hixton are highly collected in Wisconsin and Minnesota. The quarry is a National Historic Landmark.
| Kind | lithic |
|---|---|
| Regions | North America — Eastern Woodlands |
Sources
Silver Mound is an isolated Cambrian sandstone hill near Hixton, Wisconsin, with hundreds of quarry pits and rock shelters; small outcrops of similar silicified sandstone occur elsewhere in western Wisconsin. Cobbles are rare in glacial drift.
Identification
The stone is white, cream, yellow, orange or purple with a granular, sparkling texture from the quartz grains, unlike the smooth lustre of cherts. It flakes well despite the texture. Colour banding is common.
Substitutes and fakes
Rarely faked because the material is hard to work and unglamorous, but Hixton points are made by hobbyists. The quarry itself is protected and private.
Cite this article
Stratum Study. "Hixton silicified sandstone" (Material). Stratum Study pack 2026.09, as of 2026-09-21. https://stratum.black/study/materials/hixton-silicified-sandstone. Accessed 2026-09-21.
@misc{stratum-hixton-silicified-sandstone,
title = {Hixton silicified sandstone},
author = {{Stratum Study}},
howpublished = {\url{https://stratum.black/study/materials/hixton-silicified-sandstone}},
year = {2026},
note = {Material article, Stratum Study pack 2026.09, as of 2026-09-21; sources: stratum. 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.