South Dakota Licthic Materials

Materials Identification Guide

South Dakota Lithic Material

Name	Natural	Non-heat treated points	Heat treated points	Color details	Primary found in:	Associated Formation / Member
Agate Jasper				Ranges from yellow to brown or green. Part if the material will be banded and be translucent while the remaining material will be mottled and opaque.	Western South Dakota
Badlands Chert				Ranges from a yellowish brown to a pale reddish purple or dark yellowish orange	Southwestern South Dakota
Badlands Moss Agate				Translucent medium yellowish brown to dark yellowish orange with dendritic inclusions.	Southwestern South Dakota
Basalt				Ranges from black to gray	Western South Dakota	Volcanic
Bethany Falls Chert				Ranges from light to dark gray	Southeastern South Dakota	Swope Formation
Bijou Hills Quartzite AKA: Ogallala Orthoquartzite				Range from a dull gray white to a drab olive greenish color. It typically has various minerals that can give a salt and pepper appearance	South central South Dakota	Ogallala Formation
Black and White Agate				Banded black and white	Southwestern South Dakota	Chadron Formation
Black Hills Petrified Wood AKA: Edgemont Petrified Wood					Western South Dakota	Dakota Formation
Black Hills Quartzite				Ranges from a tan to brown or purple to maroon or gray.	Western South Dakota	Fall River Formation
Bubble Gum Agate / Chalcedony				Mottled or banded and ranges from shades of tans, reds, and white	Central South Dakota
Catlinite AKA: Red Pipestone				Ranges from a brownish red to a deep red color	Eastern South Dakota	Sioux Quartzite Formation
Chadron Chert				Mottled and ranges from tan or yellowish brown to red or gray. Vugs filled with chalcedony or drusy quartz may be present.	Central South Dakota	Chadron Formation
Dakota Quartzite AKA: Dakota Orthoquartzite				Ranges in color from reds to browns	Western South Dakota	Dakota Formation
Deadwood Quartzite				Type 1 course grain quartzite ranging from dark red to orange Type 2 fine grain quartzite ranging from a yellowish gray to brown	West central South Dakota	Deadwood Formation
Fairburn Agate AKA: Tee Pee Canyon Agate, Guernsey Lake Agate				Alternating circular bands of fibrous chalcedony alternating between yellowish brown with a narrower whitish band	Southwestern South Dakota	Chadron Formation, White River Group
Hells Canyon Chert				Banded and ranges from a tan to purple or gray or brown. Vugs filled with chalcedony or drusy quartz are commonly present	Southwestern South Dakota
Hogback Chalcedony				Ranges from light gray to brown with small lighter colored circles. Mottling may be present	West central South Dakota
Hogback Quartzite				Ranges from light tan to dark brown.	West central South Dakota
Knife River Flint Knife River Chert, Knife River Chalcedony				Ranges in color from a root beer, tea, coffee, or caramel brown	South Dakota	Eocene Golden Valley Formation
Minnekahta Chert				Medium brown with a red mesh of hematite and limonite and round quartz inclusions.	Southwestern South Dakota	Minnekahta Limestone Formation
Minnelusa Chert				Ranges from a tan cream to white or very pale gray or a pale reddish purple.	West central South Dakota	Minnelusa Formation
Minnelusa Quartzite				Ranges from pinks to reds and browns in color. Banding may be present.	West Central South Dakota	Minnelusa Formation
Obsidian AKA: Volcanic Glass				Black to black with bands of dark reds (mahogany obsidian) or white flakes (snowflake obsidian)	Western South Dakota	Volcanic
Opeche Chert AKA: Opeche Siltstone				Reddish color	Southwestern South Dakota	Opeche Formation
Paha Sapa Chert				Dusty red	Southwestern South Dakota	Paha Sapa Limestone Formation
Petrified Wood AKA: Agatized Wood, Opalized Wood				Vary in color based on the minerals present during the process	South Dakota	Varies
Porcellanite Generic type				Ranges from white to brown or various shades of gray	Western South Dakota	Varies
Prairie Agate				Concentric banding and is a marbled mixture of chalcedony and different colors of jasper	Southwestern South Dakota	Chadron Formation
Rainy Butte Chert AKA: Rainy Butte Silicified Wood				Ranges from a dark reddish brown to a dark chocolate brown with yellowish streaking containing fossilized wood	Northwestern South Dakota	Sentinel Butte Formation
Red River Chert				Ranges from white to light gray or light brown and may vary from a solid color to mottled	Northeastern South Dakota
Rhyolite				Gray to grayish black, flow banding may be present alternating from light to darker gray	North America	Volcanic Activity
Sioux Jasper AKA: Sioux Falls Jasper				Ranges in color from a brownish yellow to red	Eastern South Dakota	Sioux Formation
Sioux Quartzite AKA: Redstone Quartzite				Ranges from a light grayish tan to a medium grayish brown.	Eastern South Dakota	Sioux Formation
Spanish Diggings Quartzite AKA: Fall River Quartzite and Lamoka Quartzite				Range from a medium to very light shades of brown, gray, and purple or purplish gray, may be homogenous to variegated or banded	Southwestern South Dakota	Fall River and Lamoka Formation of the Inyan Kara Group
Spearfish Chert				Ranges from a grayish red to purple	Southwestern South Dakota	Spearfish Limestone Formation
Swan River Chert				Ranges from a creamy white to gray, pink to a rust, or pale yellow to deep orange, commonly has banding	Eastern South Dakota	Point Wilks Member of the Souris River Formation
Taylor Bed Silcrete AKA: Taylor Bed Chert / Taylor Bed Quartzite				Ranges from a gray to light tan commonly iron stained. Remnants of wood and cattails are commonly present	Northern South Dakota	Dean Member of the Golden Valley formation
Tongue River Silicified Sediment AKA: Tongue River Silica				Grayish brown sediment, pseudoquartzite, or arenaceous chert	South Dakota	Slope / Bullion Creek formation
Tuff AKA: Solidified Volcanic Ash				Contains greater than 75 volcanic ash and ranges from white to tan, gray or pink.	North America	Volcanic activity
White River Group Silicate Generic type				Ranges from light to medium gray, to a light brown, pink, blue or lavender with inclusions, splotches, mottling.	Western South Dakota.	White River Group
White River Group Plate Chalcedony AKA: Badlands Plate Chalcedony				Quarter inch thick ranging from clear to milky white with a rough milky white cortex	Southwestern South Dakota	White River Group
Whitewood Chert AKA: Deadwood Chert				Colors of light gray, pinks and reds, and tan.	West central South Dakota	Whitewood Limestone (dolomite) Formation