Kentucky Lithic Material
Name | Natural | Non-heat treated points | Heat treated points | Color details | Primary found in: | Associated Formation / Member |
Allens Creek Chert Muldraugh variation AKA: Floyds Knob Chert |
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Mottled and ranges in color from gray, tan, brown, and blue. May be translucent. | North central central Kentucky | Muldraugh Formation of the Sanders Group |
Argillite |
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Light to dark green, but may range to various shades of gray. | Kentucky | ||
Bailey Chert |
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Western Kentucky | Bailey Formation Limestone | |
Banded Slate |
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Kentucky | |||
Berea Sandstone |
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Light gray to a buff | Extreme northeastern Kentucky | Waverly Group | |
Bisher Chert AKA: Highland Chert, Lilley Chert |
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Ranges in color from a white to yellow including mottled tan and creams. | North central Kentucky | Bisher Dolomite formation |
Bowling Green Chert |
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Southeastern Missouri | Bowling Green Member of the Edgewood Limestone Formation | |
Brassfield Chert AKA: Clifton Chert / Agate, Belfast Chert |
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Artifacts tend to range in color from light greenish to blue or light tans mottled with yellowish red to milky white | Central Kentucky | Brassfield Formation |
Breathitt Chert |
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Range from a dark chocolate brown to a black or from shades of brownish green to tan with tan or yellow inclusions are often present. | Northeastern Kentucky | Breathitt Formation |
Broyle Chert |
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Vary in color from yellows to tan or blues. The cortex is white and chalky. Rarely may be translucent | North central Kentucky | Middle Devonian chert |
Brush Creek Chert AKA: Crooksville Chert, Hughes River Chert |
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Varies in color from a tan to a brown olive or light green | Northeastern Kentucky | Conemaugh Group |
Burlington Chert |
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Varies from white to gray or tan. Banding and mottling may be present. | Western Kentucky | Burlington Formation |
Cain Springs Chert |
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North central Kentucky | ||
Cambridge Chert |
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Gray colored chert | North eastern Kentucky | Cambridge Member of the Conemaugh Formation |
Camden Chert |
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Mottled white to gray, gray to gray blue, pale yellow to olive-yellow or tan. Vugs, quarts inclusions, streaking generally present | Western Kentucky | Tuscaloosa Formation |
Cannel Coal |
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Ranges from dark gray to black | Eastern Kentucky | ||
Carter Cave Chert AKA for Paoli Chert |
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Translucent and ranges in color from yellow to tan, red, and orange. Rarely green and blue are present | Northwestern Kentucky | Paoli Limestone formation | |
Clear Creek Chert |
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Ranges from a slight yellowing gray to white | Western Kentucky | Overlies the Backbone Limestone formation |
Cobden- Dongola Chert AKA: Anna Chert, Hornstone, and St. Louis Ball Chert |
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Shades of dark gray to blue-gray which may be solid or have dark gray bands | Western Kentucky | St. Louis Limestone | |
Coffee Creek Chert Jeffersonville Chert variation |
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Semi-translucent and variegated ranging from a bright white to a light gray, very pale brown, slightly pinkish white in color with a milky or creamy appearance | Extreme north central Kentucky | Jeffersonville Limestone formation |
Copper Ridge Chert (Ridge and Valley Chert) |
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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 |
Crab Orchard Banded
Chert AKA: Gray Banded, Jelly Roll, Kentucky Stromatoporoid chert |
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Banded gray and white. It has broad alternating bands of light to dark whites and grays followed by darker grays to almost black | Central to western Kentucky | Crab Orchard member |
Crystal Quartz |
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clear colorless stone similar to clear glass | Kentucky | ||
Degonia Chert |
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Ranges from white to gray and blue | Northwestern Kentucky | Degonia formation | |
Derby Chert |
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Vary in color from a light medium gray to a medium dark gray. White or
dark gray banding may be present |
Northwestern Kentucky | |
Ditney Chert |
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Northwestern Kentucky | Shelburn formation topping the West Limestone member | |
Dongola Chert |
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Dark tan to dark brown with banding of dark brown | Western Kentucky | St. Louis formation |
Dover Chert Fort Payne variant AKA: Elco Chert |
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Range from a light tan to almost a black chocolate brown with swirls, bands, or streaks of light to dark | Kentucky | Fort Payne Formation | |
Ferdinand Chert |
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Dark bluish gray fossiliferous chert |
Northwestern Kentucky | Mansdfield formation, Lead Creek member |
Flanagan Chert |
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Gray color | Central Kentucky | Flanagan Limestone Formation |
Flint Ridge Chert /Chalcedony AKA: Van Port Chert, Raccoon Creek Chert |
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White to bluish hues with bands of light gray, reds, and yellows | Central to eastern Kentucky | Van Port Member of the Allegheny Formation |
Fort Payne Chert |
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Ranges in color from black to a grayish blue, or white to a bluish white. Bluish gray is the predominate color with bluish hues | Kentucky | Fort Payne formation | |
Grassy Knob Chert |
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Ranges in color from a pale yellowish gray to a light olive brown |
Western Kentucky | Bailey Limestone formation |
Greenfield Chert |
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Ranges from a light to dark gray with white chalcedony / quartz inclusions.. | Northwestern Kentucky | Greenfield formation, Saline Group |
Haney Chert |
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Color is white or light gray with specks of brown | Northwestern Kentucky | Haney Limestone formation |
Hardy Creek Chert |
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Ranges from a brown to a gray or an olive black | Southeastern Kentucky | Hardy Creek Limestone Formation |
Harrodsburg Chert |
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Ranges from commonly dark olive-brown to tan, although various shades of browns, tans, blues, and off-white, oolites form white speckles | North central Kentucky | Harrodsburg Limestone formation |
Hillsdale Chert |
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Black weathering gray | Eastern Kentucky | Hillsdale Limestone Formation | |
Holland Chert AKA: Upper Huntingburg Chert |
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High quality light gay to dark bluish gray chert | North central Kentucky | Holland Limestone formation |
Hopkinsville Chert Ste. Genevieve Variation |
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Ranges in color from a light to dark gray color. | Southwestern Kentucky | Ste. Genevieve formation |
Kanawha Black Chert |
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Vary from a black to a bluish black /gray to a dark gray | Northwestern Kentucky | Kanawha formation |
Kaolin Chert |
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Ranges from hues of golden tans to gray and reds. Light banding may be present. | Western Kentucky | Paleozoic Limestone formation |
Kornthal Chert Kornthal Chert Breccia |
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Brecciated to conglomeritic ranging from a pinkish gray, to red most common, blue, yellow, brown, and inclusions of white chert or quartz | Western Kentucky | McNairy Formation | |
Lafayette Gravel Chert |
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Most commonly ranges from brown to tan, greyish tan, yellowish tan, or cream, less common white and black occur. Mottling or rarely banded | Western Kentucky | Lafayette Gravel Formation |
Lafayette Quartzite |
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Western Kentucky | Lafayette Gravel Formation | ||
Laurel Chert AKA: Raisch-Smith Chert |
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Mottled and ranges in color from a off white to a light tan or light gray. | North Central Kentucky | Laurel formation |
Lead Creek Chert Type I AKA: Rockport Chert |
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Opaque, mottled, varying shades of gray commonly having a marbles appearance with patches or streaks of an orange, tan, or gray | North central to northwestern Kentucky | Lead Creek Limestone Formation |
Lead Creek Chert Type II AKA Plummer Chert |
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Opaque, variegated with shades of medium to dark gray. Patches or streaks of orange, tan, or gray and white specks of fossils | North central to northwestern Kentucky | Lead Creek Limestone Formation |
Lead Creek Chert Type III AKA: Lieber Chert |
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Mottled and ranges in colors from a pale blue to a dark navy blue or black. | North central to northwestern Kentucky | Lead Creek Limestone Formation |
Lenoir Chert |
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Dark Gray | Tennessee, Virginia, West Virginia, Kentucky, South Carolina, Georgia, Alabama | Lenoir Limestone Formation |
Louisville Chert |
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Varies in color from a very light gray to a medium light gray. It is mottled and opaque and may have brownish specks | North central Kentucky | Louisville Limestone formation |
Lower Mercer Chert |
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Bluish gray color with quartz inclusions. | Northeastern Kentucky | Lower Mercer Member of the Pottsville Formation |
Macot Dolomite / Chert |
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Ranges from white to a light to medium gray with with mottling or streaking ranging from pink to red or green | Southeastern Kentucky | Mascot Dolomite Formation of the Newala Group |
McNairy Quartzite |
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Tightly packed pale yellowish quartzite with limited or no inclusions. Red staining may be present. | Northwestern Kentucky | McNairy Formation | |
Mill Creek Chert |
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Vary from white to gray, grayish brown, orange white to orange gray, or pale blue to black. Concentric banding may be present | Western Kentucky | Salem / Ullim Limestone formation |
Monteagle Chert |
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Medium gray | South central Kentucky | Monteagle Limestone formation |
Mounds Gravel Chert Lafayette Chert variation |
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Most commonly ranges from brown to tan, greyish tan, yellowish tan, or cream. Less commonly white, black, pink, red, olive gray or greenish gray | Northwestern Kentucky | Lafayette Gravel Formation |
Muldraugh Chert |
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Ranges in color from light to medium grays, pale brown to an light olive brown or dusty yellow. Variegated or mottling or vugs may be present.. | North central to central Kentucky | Muldraugh Formation of the Sanders Group |
Nethers Chert Flint Ridge Chert variation AKA: Ribbon Chert |
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Banded with colors ranging from light gray to black, pink to red, or tan to brown | Northern to central Kentucky | Van Port Member of the Allegheny Formation |
New Castle Chert |
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Ranges from a more common duller variegated light gray to a pale brown or a less common homogeneous bluish gray | North central Kentucky | Silver Creek limestone formation |
Newman Chert |
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Ranges in color from yellow to tan, red, and orange | Southeastern Kentucky | Newman Limestone formation |
Obryan Chert AKA: Southern Vanport Chert |
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Ranges in color from a mottled gray to white with calcium carbonate vermiculate lines | Northeastern Kentucky | Allegheny formation of the Obryan Member |
Orthoquartzite |
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Varies | Kentucky | ||
Paoli Chert AKA: Carter Cave Chert |
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Translucent and ranges in color from yellow to tan, red, and orange. Rarely green and blue are present | Northwestern Kentucky | Paoli Limestone formation | |
Poteet Chert |
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Ranges from a dark olive gray to olive black. | Southeastern Kentucky | Poteet Limestone Formation |
Quartz |
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Milky white with thin veins |
Kentucky | ||
Quartzite |
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Varies from white to gray, or pink and tan in color | Kentucky | ||
Ramp Creek Chert |
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Extreme north central Kentucky | Ramp Creek Limestone Member, Muldraugh Formation | |
Rhyolite |
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Gray to grayish black, flow banding may be present alternating from light to darker gray | Kentucky | ||
Salem Chert |
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Ranges from a dull brown to gray | Northwestern Kentucky | Salem Formation |
Sonora Flint AKA for Wyandotte Chert |
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Vibrant colorful flint that may range from tans to light gray-blue and dark brown to purples | Kentucky | Ste. Genevieve Limestone formation | |
St. Louis Green
Chert AKA: St. Louis Formation Chert |
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Varying shades from light gray green to yellow green | Western to central Kentucky | St. Louis formation |
Ste. Genevieve Chert |
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Ranges from light to medium blue, gray, and black, to olive gray and yellowish gray with gray concentric bands commonly present | Western Kentucky | Ste. Genevieve Limestone formation |
Tyrone Chert AKA: Crab Orchard Chert |
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Two tone or stripped colors | Eastern to central Kentucky | Tyrone Group |
Ullin Chert |
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brownish gray color | Northwestern Kentucky | Ullin Formation |
Vienna Chert |
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Ranges from a deep bluish black to a light grayish tan or pinkish | Kentucky, Illinois, Indiana | Vienna Formation |
Wayne County Chert AKA: Kentucky Blue and White Chert |
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Off white to light tan with white and blue | South central Kentucky | |
West Franklin Chert |
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Ranges from a light gray to light bluish gray. Commonly mottled with blue and with light brown streaks and chalky vugs | Northwestern Kentucky | |
Wyandotte Chert AKA: Indiana Hornstone, Harrison County Chert |
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Ranges in color from a medium bluefish gray to a medium light gray. Banding is common and is various shades of gray | Western Kentucky | Fredonia Member of the Ste. Genevieve Limestone formation |