Materials Identification Guide

Maryland Lithic Material

 











Name Natural Non-heat treated points Heat treated points Color details Primary found in: Associated Formation / Member
Accomack Mudstone   Ranges in color from a light or medium brown to a yellowish mustard brown. Virginia, Maryland, Delaware Yorktown and Omar formation estuarine deposits
Allentown Chert Ranges from a medium to dark gray with white streamers with banding commonly present.  Oolitic and stromatolitic. West Virginia, Maryland, Pennsylvania, New York, Vermont, Connecticut Allentown Formation 
Allentown Quartzite   Ranges from a very light gray to a medium light gray. West Virginia, Maryland, Pennsylvania, New York, Vermont, Connecticut Allentown Formation
Antietam Quartzite
AKA: Erwin-Antietam Quartzite
  Ranges from bright white to light gray, tan, brown, pink, or red, a greenish brown variation is reported West Virginia, Virginia, Delaware, Maryland, Pennsylvania, Antietam Formation of the Chilhowee Group
Aquia Orthoquartzite   Ranges from white to tan,
light gray, or brown.  Finer grain can range from tan to brown, gray, yellow, or red.
Delaware, Maryland, Pennsylvania, Delaware Aquia Quartzite Formation
Argillite
(Generic type)
  Light to dark green, but may range to various shades of gray. North America Varies
Beacon Hill Gravel Chert / Quartzite Nodules of chert and yellow quartzite. Maryland, New Jersey Beacon Hill Formation
Beasley Bay Jasper   Ranges from a mustard yellow to a brownish yellow or red. Virginia, Maryland, Delaware Kent Island Formation
Becraft Chert Light bluish gray to medium gray or black New York, New Jersey, Maryland, and Virginia Becraft Limestone Formation of the Helderberg Group
Beekmantown Chert
AKA: Narrows Chert
Dark gray often fossiliferous. West Virginia, Virginia, Maryland, Pennsylvania Beekmantown Formation
Bellefonte Chert Ranges from a light to medium gray Pennsylvania, Maryland, West Virginia, Virginia Bellefonte Dolomite Formation of the Beekmantown Group. 
Brandywine Blue Gneiss
AKA: Wilmington Blue Rock
  Ranges from a bright blue to a bluish gray. Delaware, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Maryland Brandywine Blue Gneiss Formation of the Wilmington Complex
Broad Run Chalcedony
AKA: Wissahickon Chalcedony
  Ranges in color from a mottled white to light gray or cream to yellow.  Black specks are present through the material. Virginia, Delaware, Maryland Wissahickon Formation
Calvert Silicified Sandstone   Ranges from a light gray to a bluish gray or dark gray Virginia, Maryland, Delaware Calvert Formation, Chesapeake Group
Catoctin Greenstone
AKA: Catoctin Metabasalt
  Ranges from a green to a greenish gray or gray. Virginia, West Virginia, Maryland, Pennsylvania, Delaware Catoctin Formation
Catoctin Metarhyolite
AKA: Highland Metarhyolite
  Ranges from a gray to a  bluish gray, blue, or purple.  Banding, mottling, or breccia with a tannish color may be present. West Virginia, Virginia, Delaware, Maryland Catoctin Formation
Cecil Black Chert
AKA: Newark Chert
Ranges from a medium gray to black Delaware, Maryland, Pennsylvania Newark Gabbro Formation
Chepultepec Chert
Knox Chert Variant
(Ridge and Valley Chert)
Ranges from yellow to white and oolitic Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Alabama, Tennessee, Virginia, Maryland, West Virginia, Pennsylvania Chapultepec Member of the Knox Formation
Chickies Quartzite
AKA: Chiques Quartzite, Hellam Quartzite, Edge Hill Quartzite
  Ranges from white to gray or tinted pink, tan, green, or blue Pennsylvania, Maryland Chickies Formation
Coeymans Chert
AKA: New Creek Chert
ranges in color from a bluish black to black.  Cloudy patches of fine pyrite and quartz may be present. New York, New Jersey, Maryland, and Virginia Coeymans Limestone Formation (New Creek Formation), Helderberg Group
Cohansey Orthoquartzite   Base color of grayish white with mottled colors including yellow to brown, orange to red, or black Maryland, New Jersey Cohansey Formation 
Columbia Formation Quartzite   Ranges from a yellowish brown to a reddish brown. Delaware, Maryland Columbia Formation
Copper Ridge Chert
(Ridge and Valley Chert)
Ranges in color from medium to dark gray to black Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Alabama, Tennessee, Virginia, Maryland, West Virginia, Pennsylvania Copper Ridge Member of the Knox formation
Crystal Quartz   clear colorless stone similar to clear glass Eastern North America  
Culpepper Hornfels   Range from a brown to reddish brown or greenish brown and gray to black.  Virginia, Maryland  
Flint Run Jasper   Mottled mustard yellow to brown, but gray, red, blue, and green also occur as streaking or inclusions and quartz inclusions. West Virginia, Virginia, Maryland Between the Beekmantown Formation and the Blue Ridge Formation  
Hardyston Chalcedony   Semi translucent milky white to light blue or light to gray. Maryland, Pennsylvania, New Jersey Hardyston Formation
Hardyston Jasper
AKA: Berks Jasper, Lehigh Jasper, Pennsylvania Jasper
  Ranges from a dark golden yellow to a bright red or dark brown with mottling as well as tiny veins of clear to white translucent chalcedony. Virginia, Delaware, Maryland Hardyston Formation
Hardyston Quartzite   Ranges from a milky white to light blue to a light yellowish brown or gray. Virginia, Delaware, Maryland Hardyston Formation
Harpers Ferry Quartzite
AKA: Oolitic Quartzite
  Ranges from a light gray to light blue with round speckles colored dark gray to a bluish gray or cream to light gray Virginia, North Carolina, Maryland Possible Harpers Formation of the Chilhowee Group
Heath Farm Jasper
AKA: Delmarva Peninsula Jasper
  Ranges from a brownish to dark brownish black. Delaware, Maryland, Pennsylvania  
Helderberg Chert Ranges from mottled white to light cream, light gray, and light blue commonly mottled and fossiliferous.  New York, Maryland, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Virginia, and West Virginia Helderberg Group
New Scotland Chert Ranges from a white to very light colors New York, Maryland, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Virginia, and West Virginia New Scotland Limestone Formation of the  Helderberg Formation Group
Iron Hill Jasper
AKA: Newark Jasper
  Ranges from a mottled mustard yellow to brown, dark brown, brownish black, and red.  Delaware, Maryland, Pennsylvania Newark Gabbo Formation
Kanawha Black Chert Vary from a black to a bluish black /gray to a dark gray West Virginia and into Pennsylvania, Virginia, Ohio, Maryland, and Kentucky Kanawha Formation, Pottsville Group 
Knox Chert   Dark blue to bluish gray with translucent mottling.  Red Knox Chert has a reddish color with slight mottling. Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Alabama, Tennessee, Virginia, Maryland, West Virginia, Pennsylvania Knox Formation
Libertytown Metarhyolite Ranges from a dark purplish to a bluish black or red with macrophenocycts of pink and white feldspar. Maryland, Virginia, West Virginia, Pennsylvania Libertytown Metarhyolite Formation
Licking Creek Chert
Black with sandy texture inclusions. Pennsylvania, Virginia, Maryland Licking Creek Member of the Helderberg Formation
Limeport Chert Ranges from a gray to a bluish gray or black, banding may be present. Pennsylvania, Maryland, New Jersey Limeport Member of the Allentown Formation
Longview Chert
Knox variation
Primarily reddish, but white to gray colors do occur Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Alabama, Tennessee, Virginia, Maryland, West Virginia, Pennsylvania Longview Member of the Knox formation
Martin Point Jasper   Ranges from a mustard yellow to a yellowish brown or red. Maryland  
Meadow Mountain Chert   Mottled blue gray with white streaks present.
West Virginia, Maryland Possible Foreknob Formation
Mogothy Quartzite
AKA: Magothy Quartzite
  Ranges in color from gray to bluish gray or purple, banding or mottling may be present.  Small fossils may give a peppered appearance. Virginia, Delaware, Maryland Mogothy Formation
New Market Chert
AKA: Row Park Chert
Ranges from a dark gray to black. Virginia, West Virginia, Pennsylvania, Maryland New Market Limestone Formation of the St. Paul Group
New Scotland Chert
AKA: Corriganville Chert
Ranges from a white to very light colors. New York, New Jersey, Maryland, and Virginia New Scotland Formation (Corriganville Formation) of the Helderberg Group
Nittany Chert Ranges from a medium to dark gray with siliceous oolites.  Red jasper also occurs in this formation. Pennsylvania, Maryland, Virginia, West Virginia Nittany Dolomite Formation, Beekmantown Group
Onodaga Chert
AKA: See page
Vary from light to dark gray to a mottled bluish gray to a dark brown or black or tan. West Virginia, Virginia, Delaware, Maryland (see page for full list) Onondaga Limestone Formation
Oriskany Solicified Sandstone   White New York, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Maryland, West Virginia, Virginia Oriskany Sandstone Formation
Orthoquartzite
(Generic type)
  Varies North America Varies
Patuxent - Mattaponi Quartzite
AKA: Mattaponi Quartzite
  Ranges from gray to a white, light yellow, pink or red.  range sin color from a dark white to gray,  cream to yellow, and pink to red. West Virginia, Virginia, Maryland, Pennsylvania, North Carolina Patuxent / Mattaponi Formation
Pinesburg Station Chert Ranges from a white to very light gray. West Virginia, Virginia, Maryland, Pennsylvania Pinesburg Station Formation of the Beekmantown Group
Point of Rocks Jasper   Ranges from a mustard yellow to a yellowish brown with grays also occurring. Virginia, Maryland  
Quartz   Milky white with thin veins
North America  
Quartzite   Varies from white to gray, or pink and tan in color North America  
Rhyolite   Gray to grayish black, flow banding may be present alternating from light to darker gray Eastern North America  
Ridgely Quartzite   Ranges from white to a light tan or a medium gray or pink. West Virginia, Maryland, Virginia Ridgely Sandstone Member of the Oriskany Formation
Rockdale Run Chert Ranges from a light to medium gray.
West Virginia, Virginia, Maryland, Pennsylvania Rockdale Run Limestone Formation of the Beekmantown Group
Shiver Chert Ranges in color from a medium gray to black New York, New Jersey, Maryland, and Virginia  Shiver Formation of the Helderberg Group
Stonehenge Chert
AKA: Stonehenge - Chepultepec Chert
Ranges from a dark gray to black. West Virginia, Virginia, Maryland, Pennsylvania, New Jersey Stonehenge Limestone Formation of the Beekmantown Group
Sugarloaf Mountain Quartzite   White Maryland Sugarloaf Mountain Quartzite Formation
Tomstown Chert Ranges from beds of bluish gray to a yellowish gray blue, or white with mottling commonly present and nodules of white. Pennsylvania, Maryland, Virginia, and West Virginia Tomstown Dolomite Formation
Trading Run Chert Light color ranging from a mottled white to gray, cream to yellow, and pinks with iron staining commonly present. West Virginia, Virginia, Maryland Helderberg Formation
Tuscarora Quartzite
AKA: Massanutten Quartzite
  White and gray West Virginia, Maryland, Pennsylvania, Virginia Tuscarora Quartzite Formation of the Judy Gap Group
Uniontown Chert
AKA: Waynesburg Chert
Ranges from light to medium gray or yellowish brown with yellow streaks. West Virginia, Maryland Uniontown Formation of the Monongahela Group.
Waynesboro Chert
AKA: Rome Chert
Ranges from a very dark gray to black Virginia, West Virginia, and Maryland Waynesboro Limestone Formation (Rome Limestone Formation)
Weverton Quartzite   Feldspathic and ranges from a grayish white to medium light gray. Maryland, West Virginia, Virginia Buzzard Knob Member of the Weverton Quartzite Formation, Chilhowee Group
Wissahickon Quartzite / Vein Quartz   gray quartzite with milky white veins of quartz. Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Maryland, Delaware Wissahickon Formation