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Named stone

Napa Glass Mountain obsidian

Also called Napa Valley obsidian, Blossom Creek obsidian, Crystal Summit obsidian, Meg's Crown obsidian

A kind of obsidian

Napa Glass Mountain obsidianObsidianWest Coast & Plateau

Description

Napa Valley obsidian, also called Napa Glass Mountain, is a source in the North Coast Ranges of Napa County, California. The Northwest Research Obsidian Studies Laboratory lists the local names Blossom Creek, Crystal Summit and Meg's Crown for it. It is one of several North Coast Range sources that reached inland: an archaeological report on Colusa County foothill sites found Napa Valley glass alongside Borax Lake and Mount Konocti obsidian in assemblages that include Borax Lake and Mendocino Pattern points, dated by hydration to roughly 2,000 to 8,000 years ago. The Nevada transportation department's guide calls it a reported source with no further information. The opened sources do not describe its colour, quality or geology.

Geology

A North Coast Range obsidian source in Napa County. The opened sources give no geology.

Where it comes from

West Coast & Plateau

States

Quarries and outcrops

  • Napa Valley area, Napa County (Blossom Creek, Crystal Summit and Meg's Crown localities)

Used by

  • Archaic sites in the Colusa County foothills, where it occurs with Borax Lake and Mount Konocti obsidian (hydration ages about 2,000 to 8,000 years ago; Bouey in Slaymaker 1983, as cited by White and others 2009)

Look-alikes

Stones that are easy to confuse with Napa Glass Mountain obsidian.

Sources

  1. Northwest Research Obsidian Studies Laboratory. California Obsidian Sources: Napa Valley (source reference sheet).sourcecatalog.com (opens in a new tab)
  2. White, Gregory G., and others. 2009. Sites Reservoir Archaeological Inventory Report: cultural setting (Appendix 22A, Sites Project RDEIR/SDEIS). Archaeological Research Program, California State University, Chico.sitesproject.org (opens in a new tab)
  3. Moore, Joe. 2009. Great Basin Tool-Stone Sources: The NDOT Obsidian and Tool-Stone Sourcing Project, 2002 Progress Report. Nevada Department of Transportation, Cultural Resource Section.deschutesmeridian.com (opens in a new tab)

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