Topper is an archaeological site located along the Savannah River in Allendale County, South Carolina in the United States. It is noted as the location of controversial artifacts believed by some archaeologists to indicate human habitation of the New World as far back as 50,000 years ago. Archaeology, archeology, or archology (from the Greek words αρχαίος = ancient and λόγος = word/speech/discourse) is the study of human cultures through the recovery, documentation and analysis of material remains and environmental data, including architecture, artifacts, biofacts, human remains, and landscapes. ... For the Department of Energy facility, see Savannah River Site The Savannah River is a major river in the southeastern United States, forming most of the border between the states of South Carolina and Georgia. ... Allendale County is a county located in the state of South Carolina. ... Archaeology or sometimes in American English archeology (from the Greek words αρχαίος = ancient and λόγος = word/speech) is the study of human cultures through the recovery, documentation and analysis of material remains, including architecture, artefacts, biofacts, human remains, and landscapes. ... Carte dAmérique, Guillaume Delisle, c. ...

Since the 1930s, the most widely-accepted theory concerning the peopling of the New World is that the first human inhabitants were the Clovis people, who are thought to have arrived approximately 13,000 years ago. Artifacts of the Clovis people are found throughout most of the United States and as far south as Panama. The standard theory has been challenged in recent decades, with possible pre-Clovis sites, such as Cactus Hill and Monte Verde, suggested by a growing number of archaeologists. To date, no conclusive evidence of pre-Clovis inhabitation has yet been definitely established. This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... The Clovis culture (also Llano culture) is a prehistoric Native American culture that first appears in the archaeological record of North America around 13,500 years ago, at the end of the last ice age. ... Cactus Hill is an archaeological site in the U.S. state of Virginia. ... Monte Verde is an archaeological site in south-central Chile, which is suspected to date 12,500 years before present, making it one of the earliest inhabited sites in the Americas. ...

In 2004, Albert Goodyear of the University of South Carolina Institute of Archaeology and Anthropology announced that radiocarbon dating of a bit of charcoal found in the Topper Site dated to approximately 50,000 years ago, or approximately 37,000 years before the Clovis people. Goodyear, who began excavating the Topper site in the 1980s, believes that the artifacts are stone tools, although other archaeologists dispute this conclusion, suggesting that the artifacts may be natural and not human-made. Other archaeologists have challenged the radiocarbon dating procedure of the Topper artifacts. Goodyear discovered the artifacts by digging 4 m deeper than the Clovis artifacts. Before discovering the oldest artifacts, he had discovered other artifacts that he claimed were tools dating around 16,000 years old, or about 3,000 years before Clovis. Until the recent challenges to the Clovis theory, it was unusual for archaeologists to dig deeper than the layer of the Clovis culture, on the grounds that no human artifacts would be found older than Clovis. 2004 (MMIV) was a leap year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Dr. Albert C. Goodyear III, an archaeologist who is founder and director of the Allendale PaleoIndian Expedition in South Carolina, where he has unearthed controversial evidence that may greatly move back the date of occupation of North America by humans to 50,000 years or more before the present. ... An 1872 illustration of the Horseshoe, USCs original campus. ... Archaeology, archeology, or archology (from the Greek words αρχαίος = ancient and λόγος = word/speech/discourse) is the study of human cultures through the recovery, documentation and analysis of material remains and environmental data, including architecture, artifacts, biofacts, human remains, and landscapes. ... Initiation rite of the Yao people of Malawi Anthropology (from the Greek word , man or person) consists of the study of humanity (see genus Homo). ... Carbon-14 is the radioactive isotope of carbon discovered February 27, 1940, by Martin Kamen and Sam Ruben. ... Charcoal is the blackish residue consisting of impure carbon obtained by removing water and other volatile constituents from animal and vegetation substances. ... The 1980s refers to the years of 1980 to 1989. ...

External links

• Topper Site layers photo Stratigraphic layers photo of the Topper Site and the Pre-Clovis layers.
• Topper Site: Beyond Clovis at Allendale
• South Carolina Institute of Archaeology and Anthropology
• Another Perspective on the Topper pre-Clovis Material
• CNN: Man In Americas Earlier Than Thought The University of South Carolina announces radiocarbon tests that dated the first human settlement in North America to 50,000 years ago