Yet Another Piece of Rough Turquoise

If there is one there are possibly more.  So after taking a break from work the other afternoon I went looking for more turquoise on the property.  The previous piece of turquoise found was a broken nugget so a search for the other fragments seemed potentially fruitful.  After wandering around the area in the late afternoon (with good light) the piece of turquoise shown below turned up.  In its unpolished condition it was a fairly ordinary looking green rock, but with a little grinding and polishing it became apparent that another piece of turquoise was found.  The Paint Pony Resort sits on the west bank of the San Simon River bed (in a valley of alluvial fill), I am unaware of any reported turquoise deposits in the Chiricahua Mountains* (up dip) but there is turquoise reported from the Johhny Bull mine in the Peloncillo Mountains about 18 miles north (downstream),  and the turquoise is similar in appearance to that found around Hachita.  These 3 observations combine to reinforce the idea that there was a habitation site on the property at some time in the distant past.  Of course all the pottery and stone tools also suggest a habitation site(s).

*Both pieces of turquoise show evidence of wear, they both have rounded edges and appear water worn.  Either the material was originally discovered in that condition and brought here or were deposited as part of the alluvial fill from the Chiricahua and Peloncillo Mountians.  Plotting the locations of turquoise on an aerial map should help differentiate between these 2 alternatives.  If naturally occurring, the distribution should be randomly distributed around the area, but if the distribution is localized around a point source (habitation site) it would suggest the material was collected elsewhere and brought in.  Testing this will require some more walking and flagging sites where material is found to examine the distribution pattern.

Unpolished turquoise

Turquoise with some grinding and polishing