Access to the Alibates Flint Quarry National Monument is limited to guided tours.  At first that seemed unreasonable but once we got there it is easy to see why.  It would take a pretty careful eye to get much out of this place on an unguided walk through.  Thanks to our wonderfully informed and well spoken Ranger, we learned quite a bit.

This place is all about the flint . Not just any flint, beautifully colored, exceptionally tough, Alibates flint.  Thousands of years ago silica laden volcanic ash (from the very volcano site we visited just days ago) blanketed the dolomite rock that covered this area.  Water leached the silica into fissures and porosity of the dolomite and viola, over a few more thousands of years, the material was agatized and this beautiful flint was born.  More time passed and erosion exposed the flint allowing some of the earliest humans on the continent  to find it.

Ancient Flint Quarry

That is the geological back story that sets the stage for the archeologists who are attempting to reconstruct the impact of this find on human populations from the Paleo times through present day. There are Clovis spear tips and arrow heads used for hunting.  Scrapers, diggers and shapers used for everyday tasks.  The site was littered with all sorts of non-local items gained through flint trade with distant tribes. To we untrained observers the story here is built from somewhat patchy evidence but it mirrors that told at other flint and obsidian sites across the country.  Take the tour, it is worth the walk.  It is pretty amazing that something as simple as a rock can shape the course of history.