Color:  Pitkin Chert ranges from a dark bluish gray to a bluish black or black.  Light blue is less commonly seen. Non-concentric banding of lighter and darker colors and orangish vugs may be present.  White speckles formed by fossils are commonly present.

Texture: Fine to very fine grain

Luster: Glossy

Silica Fabrics / Fossils: Crinoid stems

Patina:

Heat Treatment:  Heat treatment produces a slight reddish hue.

Knapping: 

Notes:  Excello Chert and Pitkin Chert are commonly confused for each other. Pitkin commonly has white fossil specks and orangish vugs not seen in Excello Chert.  Excello Chert commonly has veins of chalcedony not seen in Pitkin Chert.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Distribution Comments:

Pitkin Chert is associated with the Pitkin Limestone Formation of central Arkansas.  Primary outcropping occurs south of Boat Mountain near Bellefonte, Arkansas.  Primary outcroppings occur along the White River and its tributaries in Arkansas.  Other outcroppings occur from Batesville, Arkansas to Muskogee, Oklahoma.