Indian Jasper Quarries
Upper Milford Township, Lehigh County, Pennsylvania
Marker Inscription
The most famous of Pennsylvania's Indian quarries may be seen in the woods a few hundred yards southwest of here. Articles made from the jasper were carried by the Indians as far as New England.
Erected by Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission
The Story
Long before European settlers arrived, Native people worked the jasper outcrops of the Lehigh hills, chipping the hard, colorful stone into knives, scrapers, and projectile points. These quarries were among the most productive in the region, and finished jasper tools traveled through trade networks that reached as far as New England. The pits and scatter of worked stone in the nearby woods mark centuries of Indigenous craft and commerce.
Why it matters
The quarries testify to the sophistication and reach of pre-contact Native trade, reminding us that a continent-spanning economy existed here for millennia before written history.
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Themes & tags
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