ABOUT
ARKANSAS STONES (Novaculite)
Novaculite is a sedimentary rock composed mostly of microcrystalline quartz
and is a recrystallized variety of chert. It is dense, hard, white to grayish-black
in color, translucent on thin edges, and has a dull to waxy luster. It typically
breaks with a smooth conchoidal (shell-like) fracture. The word novaculite is
derived from the Latin word novacula, meaning razor stone. Novaculite is widely
distributed in the Ouachita Mountains of Arkansas. Because it is highly resistant
to erosion, it forms prominent ridges. The Arkansas Novaculite formation of
Devonian and Mississippian age and consists of novaculite interbedded with some
shale. It ranges in thickness from about 250 to 900 feet. Arkansas novaculite
is recognized worldwide for its use as whetstones and oilstones, which are used
for sharpening knives, surgical instruments, and wood-carving tools. Early Native
Americans in Arkansas gathered novaculite boulders and, in the vicinity of Hot
Springs in Garland County, quarried the stone to make weapons and tools. In
the early 1800's, a quarry of honestone near Magnet Cove in Hot Spring County
was mined by early settlers. Records show that novaculite mining in Arkansas
was intermittent from 1885 to 1905, but continuous ever since.
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