Chert is all over Indiana limestone. You can find nodules of it in most streambeds where the parent rock is limestone. It varies in quality, the Lost River chert is probably the highest quality in Indiana.
When I was a kid, our crushed stone driveway had lots of flint in it. Was fun entertainment as a kid to find a couple pieces and strike them together at night.
Chert is all over Indiana limestone. You can find nodules of it in most streambeds where the parent rock is limestone. It varies in quality, the Lost River chert is probably the highest quality in Indiana.
The highest quality chert in the world is from southern Indiana...."Indiana Hornstone" is what it is called if you are from Indianapolis and points north...Harrison county flint is what we call it......
Indiana Hornstone
AKA: Indiana / Kentucky Blue Chert,
Harrison County Flint
Natural Form:
Description of Physical Characteristics:
Color: Indiana Hornstone ranges in color from a dark cream to a medium creamy brown.
Texture: Fine grained
Luster: Waxy to glassy
Silica Fabrics / Fossils: Relatively few
Patina: Gray to chocolate brown
Heat Treatment: Not commonly heat treated
Knapping: Excellent knappability
Distribution:
Distribution Comments:
Indiana Hornstone has primary outcroppings in Harrison and Crawford counties in Indiana and Meade, Breckinridge, and Hardin counties in Kentucky. This material was highly prized and was traded into the Chesapeake Bay area and into Kansas.
Harrison county flint has bee found on Hopewell sites as fare east as the DelMarva sites area on the Chesapeake Bay in Early Woodland contexts. It has been found in southern Ontario and in Western New York. It also occurs southward along the Mississippi Valley and Tennessee River into Alabama, Tennessee, and Georgia.