In archaeological terms, a quarry or mine site is where raw material--stone or metal ore--was mined for use as building material or tool construction. Quarries are interesting to archaeologists, because discovering the sources of raw materials found on archaeological sites tells us ,how far people in the past could and would go for specific purposes, or what their trade networks might have been like. Evidence at a quarry might also show available technology in the form of tools left behind and cut marks in the walls of the excavation pits.
Connecting a stone or metal artifact to a particular quarry is possible in some cases, by comparing the geochemical makeup of the raw material. This process is known as sourcing; see the glossary entry for more information on this useful process.
Dating the use of a quarry is sometimes problematic, in part because if large enough the quarry may have been used by several cultural groups over a long period of time. In addition, quarrying tools which can be fairly nondiagnostic may be all the evidence left behind, rather than datable objects such as hearths or stone projectile points or pottery.
Sources
See the specific sites listed below, and the glossary entry on raw material sourcing for additional information.
This glossary entry is a part of the About.com Guide to Archaeology Site Types and part of the Dictionary of Archaeology.
