Russ, your idea is a good one. And I certainly agree that a list of knappable rock types, where the rock formations are located, and a picture would be very useful.
It's a big project, but I guess I'll start with Maine. Right now I'm also researching lithic technology terms, definitions, and theories but the two areas (lithic quarries and lithic technology) often overlap.
Here's what I've got so far from Maine.
From the list posted here:
Cow Head ChertThe name comes from a Native American stone tool kit called the "Cow Head Complex". The tools from this kit (includes arrowheads) can be found in Newfoundland, Labrador, and Quebec. The vast majority of these tools are made from rhyolite, not chert. There is no such thing as "cow head chert" in Maine.
Kineo Felsite or Kineo RhyoliteFrom wikipedia:
Native Americans once traveled great distances to Mt. Kineo (beside Moosehead Lake) to acquire its rhyolite rock. The mountain is a peculiar geological formation of flint known as siliceous slate, or hornstone. It is the country's largest known mass of this rock, once used by Indians to craft arrowheads, hatchets, chisels, etc. Because Indian implements made from the stone have been found in all parts of New England and even further south, it is evident that various tribes visited Mt. Kineo for centuries to obtain this material.Some guys over on paleoplanet have made points from this: ---http://paleoplanet69529.yuku.com/topic/37452#.US0lqRm0IZ0
Also some info here: ---http://www.fishermensvoice.com/archives/0510KineoFlint.html
Munsungun Lake ChertAlso Munsungan Lake ---http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0305440398903351
North Hood Chert
Could not find a legit reference to this chert.
Ramah ChertFound in Labrador, Canada. Not found in Maine. Very limited quantities.
There are only two known sources of high quality, flakeable chert along the entire Labrador coast. One is in the Cape Mugford region, the other is farther north in the area of Ramah Bay. This second source is found in an extremely limited area, as part of a sedimentary formation that runs from Saglek Bay north through Ramah Bay, ending at Nachvak Fiord. ---http://www.heritage.nf.ca/environment/landscape_ramah.html
Vermont JasperAlso called Maroon Vermont Jasper
---http://www.mpbn.net/quest/info-chert.shtml
Some other possible knappable rhyolite in Maine:
Lobster MountainMuch of Lobster Mountain on the west side of the lake and Big Island is underlain by a variety of volcanic rocks collectively called the Lobster Mountain volcanics. These are all Ordovician in age and probably represent volcanic islands created when part of the oceanic crust was subducted. Lobster Mountain itself is underlain by a light greenish gray rhyodacite: an otherwise very fine-grained rock with large angular crystals of quartz. It weathers a distinctive light gray and is well exposed on the trail to the summit that begins at Jackson Cove.
Traveler RhyoliteMuch of the northern part of Baxter State Park is underlain with rhyolite, a light-colored volcanic rock that is similar in composition to granite, in this case the Katahdin granite, but that is much finer grained. In many outcrops the grains are too fine to see with the naked eye. Most of the peaks (The Traveler, North Traveler, Black Cat Mountain), the cliffs around Upper and Lower South Branch Ponds, and the mountains you passed on the way into the park (Horse Mountain) are underlain with this rock. Most of the unit formed from large eruptions of volcanic ash rather than by flows of molten magma. The Traveler Rhyolite is probably 3,200 meters thick and tilts northward at a moderate angle. In a close up of the Traveler Rhyolite, the dark streaks in the rock are flattened pieces of pumice that formed as a rain of volcanic bombs that accompanied the ash eruption.
Vinalhaven RhyoliteThe geology of the northern part of Vinalhaven, from Middle Mountain to Browns Head, is less famous than the Vinalhaven granite but in some ways more interesting. A variety of volcanic rocks give clues to an ancient past when this part of the earth's crust was being formed. Collectively, these rocks have been named the Vinalhaven Rhyolite, after the most common type of volcanic rock there.
Knappable stone from New Hampshire imported into Maine in ancient times:Banded Spherulitic RhyoliteAlso might be called Mount Jasper Rhyolite, Jefferson, NH
Artifacts of spherulitic rhyolite derived from two locations in northern New Hampshire are significant to minor components of numerous Paleoindian, Archaic and Woodland archaeological sites in Maine, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Vermont and easternmost Quebec. The two known sources of are a dike near the city of Berlin, New Hampshire, and blocks-in-till near the village of Jefferson, New Hampshire.
---http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0305440307001094
---http://tommclaughlin.blogspot.com/2011/09/exploring-ancient-cave.html
See below for pics of Banded Spherulitic Rhyolite.
