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In November 2004, archaeologist Albert Goodyear of the University of South Carolina surprised
scholars throughout the world with the claim that at the Topper site on the
Savannah River, a layer containing stone artifacts and carbonized plant remains
yielded radiocarbon dates from at least 50,000 years BP. This dating is far
earlier than any other known Paleoindian sites in North or South America,
with the exception of Pedra Furada, a group of rock shelters in eastern Brazil
whose lowest levels are controversially dated at 48,000 years BP or greater
(AR 3,2). If the dating at Topper is confirmed, this would
be the earliest evidence of human presence on the North American continent,
and the history of the original spread of Homo sapiens to the Americas would
have to be largely rewritten.
The Topper site,
located near Allendal e, South Carolina, (fig.1). was first studied by Goodyear
in 1981 when a local resident named John Topper led him there during a survey
of chert sources.
Excavations
since 1984 gradually revealed several features containing pre-Clovis artifacts
such as chert microtools, small flakes, and pebbles, in layers radiocarbon
dated to 16,000 BP. In 2004, Goodyear uncovered chert artifacts and carbonized
plant remains in an earlier deposit some 13 feet below this pre-Clovis level.
Radiocarbon dating of two charcoal samples yielded a surprisingly early result
of over 50,000 years ago, similar to dates obtained on the soil.
Fig.1: Location of the Topper site amid outcrops of flint or
chert used for prehistoric tools, on the Savannah River in South
Carolina [after Goodyear 2004].
If the research
is borne out, the implications are staggering. The dating extends back to
an era when anatomically modern Homo sapiens were still spreading from Africa,
reaching Asia and Australia not earlier than 70-50,000 years ago. The Topper
site dates would mean that the peopling of the Americas came surprisingly
early; or, alternatively, that the currently accepted dates for the peopling
of Asia by modern humans may not be early enough.
Based on similarities
of mitochondrial DNA between East Asians and Native Americans, some geneticists
support the arrival of the latter on the North American continent by around
35,000 BP (see AR 3,2). Some anthropologists, however, such
as the Brazilian Walter Neves, note morphological similarities between the
skulls of the earliest human remains in the Americas and those of early African
or Australian populations.
Between the 1930s
and 80s, the dominant "Clovis first" model had held that America was first
settled by highly specialized big game hunters of the Clovis culture not
earlier than 11,500-10,800 BP (the final period of the last, Wisconsin
glaciation). A series of pre-Clovis sites, however, were discovered in the
1970s-90s. These include Meadowcroft Rockshelter (ca. 19,600-11,300 BP);
Cactus Hill in Virginia (16,000-10,900 BP); Monte Verde in Chile (ca.
33,000-12,500 BP); Pedra Pintada on the Amazon (ca. 12,500 BP); and Pedra
Furada in eastern Brazil (ca. 48,000-6,000 BP). All support the idea that
the peopling of the Americas began no later than during the second maximum
of the last glacial period (ca. 20,000-18,000 BP; see AR
3,2)
A crossing of the
Beringia land bridge ca. 50,000 years ago might have been feasible as well,
since it was temporarily passable during the first maximum of the Wisconsin
glaciation. In this connection, recent finds from the region north of the
Russian Urals at Mamontovaya Krurya, dated to 36,000 BP (AR
3,2), and the Siberian site Yana RHS, dated to 27,000 BP (Pitulko et al 2004)
show that northern regions with extreme cold climate had been reached and
inhabited by hunters much earlier than previously thought.
An international conference in October 2005 on early
migrations to the Americas, included the presentation of the Topper site
to the scientific community.
References: Archaeology, 17 Nov., 2004; Pitulko, V.V. et
al 2004. "The Yana RHS site: Humans in the Arctic before the last glacial
maximum." Science 303: 52-56; Athena Review 3:2, 2002; "Early Brazilians
Unveil African Look." Science News 159:212 2001; "Pre-Clovis Surprise."
Archaeology 52:18; Powell, J.F., & W.A. Neves. 1999. "Craniofacial
morphology of the first Americans" Amer. J. of Phys. Anthro. 110 (S29):153-188;
Dillehay, T. 1997. Monte Verde: A Late Pleistocene Settlement in Chile. Smithson.
Series in Arch. Inq. Washington, DC; Roosevelt, A., et al 1996. "Paleoindian
cave dwellers in the Amazon." Science 272:373-384; Guidon, N., and G. Delibrias,
1986. "Carbon-14 dates point to Man in the Americas 32,000 years ago." Nature
321:796-771; Adovasio, J., et al 1978. "Meadowcroft Rockshelter, 1977: An
overview." American Antiquity 43:632-651.
This article appears on page 7-8 in Vol.4 No.2 of Athena
Review.
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