Archaeological Research Facility

The large biface from Wyoming was produced from the Buck Mountain source in the Warner Mountains of far northeastern California (Table 1 and Figure 1 here; see cover image). The Warner Mountains are the farthest western basin and range example, and not part of the Sierra or Cascade Ranges. The Buck Mountain source exhibiting mahogany as well as black obsidian was distributed over a large area of western North America (Hughes 1983; Jones et al. 2003; Pinson 2001). The obsidian is an excellent media for stone tool production with boulder size nodules (at least 50 cm in diameter) at the source, and was used throughout prehistory (Jones et al. 2003; Pinson 2001). I have used the obsidian for knapping for 20 years.