Soil samples collected during a rescue archaeology project at a prehistoric Knife River flint quarry site in North Dakota contained a significant quantity of lithic debitage. Evidence from other quarry sites indicates minimal lithic reduction processing, characterized by a high percentage of cortex and shatter. Preliminary observation of the sample material demonstrated an abundance of micro debitage and a relative lack of cortex. The overarching research question sought to determine the type of lithic production activities that took place, which required developing a method of data collection to account for the limitations of soil sample finds without the benefit of contextual excavation, recording, or lithic object finds. The robust data-collection method developed for this project provides nuanced insight into lithic production activities through extensive structural characterization of each piece of microscopic debitage. The sorting and recording methods developed for this project have the potential to support future rescue and salvage archaeology projects as a method of data collection when other sources of contextual data are similarly limited.

Support: This research was supported by grant funds from SPARK-ND @ Minot State University, the Sustainable Programs Advancing Research and Knowledge across North Dakota initiative as part of an EPSCoR NSF E-CORE award.