Lithic Raw Material Prospects in the Mojave Desert, California

Abstract

This paper discusses lithic raw material prospects (or simply "prospects"), places where potentially flakeable tool stone was assayed or tested for quality. It characterizes this site type and contrasts it with quarries, places where stone was obtained consistently and in quantity, and places where stone was picked up, used, and discarded with little modification. We believe prospects represent a major archaeological site type that has received inadequate attention in the literature.