Topper Site facts for kids

The Topper site is a very old place in South Carolina, United States, where archaeologists (people who study ancient times) dig to find clues about early humans. It's located along the Savannah River in Allendale County.

Scientists are very interested in Topper because some believe it shows that people lived in the New World (North and South America) much earlier than previously thought. For a long time, it was believed that the first people in North America were the Clovis culture, who lived about 13,500 years ago. But the findings at Topper suggest humans might have been here 3,000 years or even more before the Clovis people!

Archaeologists at Topper have dug very deep, finding layers that might be as old as 50,000 years. This is exciting because it challenges old ideas about when the first humans arrived. One important discovery is a large rock tool called the "Topper Chopper," which looks like it was shaped by human hands.

Where is the Topper Site Located?

The Topper site is found on the eastern side of the Savannah River. The land here is a bit hilly. The lowest parts, near the river, are about 80 to 90 feet above sea level. The highest parts, on the eastern edge, rise to over 130 feet.

The site itself is about 0.1 miles wide from east to west. It's a little more than half that distance from north to south. However, archaeologists are still working to find out just how far the ancient remains spread. The Topper site is on private land owned by a company called Archroma, so it's not open for public visits.

Who Were the Clovis People?

For many years, starting in the 1930s, most scientists believed that the first people to live in the Americas were the Clovis people. They are thought to have appeared around 13,500 years ago. We know about them because their unique stone tools have been found across most of the United States and even as far south as Panama in Central America.

However, since the early 2000s, this idea has been questioned. New discoveries at sites like Monte Verde in Chile, Cactus Hill in Virginia, and Buttermilk Creek in Texas, along with Topper, suggest that people were here before the Clovis culture.

Why is Topper Special? The Pre-Clovis Debate

In 2004, a scientist named Albert Goodyear from the University of South Carolina made a big announcement. He found dark stains in the soil at the deepest part of the Topper site. These stains were from burned plants and were dated using a method called radiocarbon dating. The results suggested they were about 50,000 years old! This would mean humans were at Topper about 37,000 years before the Clovis people.

Goodyear believes that some stone objects found at this deep level are simple tools made by humans. However, not all archaeologists agree. Some think these objects might just be natural rocks, not tools. Others also question the radiocarbon dating itself. They argue that the dark stains could be from a natural fire, not a human one. They also point out that 50,000 years is a very long time for radiocarbon dating, and it might not be accurate for such old samples.

Before finding these very old objects, Goodyear had already found other stone tools at Topper that he believed were about 16,000 years old. This would still make them about 3,000 years older than the Clovis culture.

Many scientists find the idea of humans being at Topper a few thousand years before Clovis more believable than 50,000 years. This idea is sometimes called the "pioneer" stage of the Clovis culture. It suggests that early groups might have arrived and slowly developed the tool-making skills that later became known as the Clovis culture. It makes sense that new tool techniques would take time to spread.

Working at the Topper Site

For several years, until 2012, there was an annual event called the Allendale expedition. This allowed people who weren't professional archaeologists to volunteer and help with the digging and lab work at the Topper site. They worked with experienced archaeologists and students, learning about how discoveries are made.

See also

In Spanish: Topper (yacimiento) para niños