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Location and Age of the Topper Site, Allendale County
Location
The Topper site is located on the bank of the Savannah River in Allendale County, South Carolina. The site is owned by Clariant Corporation, a Swiss-based chemical company. The location is notable for its abundance of chert resources, which were extensively quarried and used for tool manufacturing by prehistoric peoples.
Age of the Site
- Initial Discoveries (1998-2003): Excavations by Dr. Albert Goodyear began in 1998, revealing unusual stone tools below the Clovis level (approximately 13,000 years ago). Further geological analysis placed these artifacts within ice-age soils dated to between 16,000 and 20,000 years old.
- Deep Excavations (2004): Excavations extended to a depth of 4 meters (13.12 feet) into Pleistocene terrace soils. Charcoal found at this depth allowed for radiocarbon testing, which indicated that sediments containing artifacts date back at least 50,000 years.
Significance
The radiocarbon dating results challenge the established timeline of human presence in North America, which was previously thought to begin around 13,000 years ago with the Clovis culture. The findings suggest that humans inhabited the region long before the last ice age, possibly as early as 50,000 years ago. This makes the Topper site one of the oldest known archaeological sites in North America.
Comparative Context
Other early sites in the Americas, such as those in Brazil, Chile, and Oklahoma, hint at human presence dating back 30,000 to 60,000 years. The Topper site aligns with this broader narrative, raising new questions about the migration and settlement of early humans in the Western Hemisphere.
