Artifacts from 24 chipping stations and a lithic scatter from the Lake Mead National Recreation Area, Nevada were analyzed by refitting conjoinable flakes to original cores. Artifacts represented debitage from the initial reduction of locally-available low-quality chalcedony nodules for the eventual production of flake tools. The refitting analysis allowed the debitage to be divided into four patterns that roughly correlate with variation in the quality of the raw material. All result from the same strategy of reduction aimed at producing as many usable flakes as possible from low-quality material. Such relatively unproductive sites are rarely studied in detail because they require intensive analysis, but were probably an important part of prehistoric resource systems.
Hydrogeology and sources of water to select springs in Black Canyon, south of Hoover Dam, Lake Mead National Recreation Area, Nevada and Arizona
