Dover Flint Quarries

The Dover Flint Quarries, listed in the National Register of Historic Places in 1973, comprise one of the most significant prehistoric quarry sites in the Southeast. Located in Stewart County, the Dover quarries were the primary source of the famous and beautiful Dover flint from which prehistoric peoples carved and made many ceremonial objects. Prehistoric peoples prized this flint because it could be mined in large sheets which they could work and make into long, slender flint blades of different shapes. As Thomas Lewis and Madeline Kneberg observe: “Incredible skill was required to break up the large boulders and secure slabs thin enough to be worked into the long swords. The flint from these quarries can be easily recognized by its peculiar grain and color [brownish with slight blue specks], and the finished objects always exhibit similarities in workmanship.” (1)