Pacolet Soapstone Quarries encompasses 13 historic

archaeological site An archaeological site is a place (or group of physical sites) in which evidence of past activity is preserved (either prehistoric or historic or contemporary), and which has been, or may be, investigated using the discipline of archaeology an ...

s located near Pacolet,

Spartanburg County, South Carolina Spartanburg County is a County (United States), county located on the northwestern border of the U.S. state of South Carolina. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population was 327,997, making it the fifth-most populous county ...

. It was the site of

soapstone Soapstone (also known as steatite or soaprock) is a talc-schist, which is a type of metamorphic rock. It is composed largely of the magnesium rich mineral talc. It is produced by dynamothermal metamorphism and metasomatism, which occur in the zo ...

procurement activities during the

Late Archaic Period In the classification of the archaeological cultures of North America, the Archaic period in North America, taken to last from around 8000 to 1000 BC in the sequence of North American pre-Columbian cultural stages, is a period defined by the ''a ...

(3000 B.C. – 500 B.C.) for the purpose of creating vessels. The quarry sites are characterized by large outcropping boulders of soapstone surrounded by depressions and concentrations of soapstone debris. The sites were listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...

in 1980.

References

Archaeological sites on the National Register of Historic Places in South Carolina National Register of Historic Places in Spartanburg County, South Carolina {{SpartanburgCountySC-NRHP-stub

See also

References