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HUMANS IN SOUTHEASTERN UNITED
STATES 40,000+ YEARS AGO?
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Archaeologist Albert C. Goodyear may have found some of the oldest
artifacts in North America. If authentic, it would establish that humans arrived
in the New World tens of thousands of years earlier than previously believed.
In a chert quarry on the banks of the Savannah River, Goodyear and his
associates from the University of South Carolina have unearthed apparent
human-chipped stone flakes and charred plants, possibly from an ancient
hearth. Radiocarbon dates for these artifacts are at least 50,000 years ago
to an Ice Age. This is much earlier than any previous evidence of humans in
North America. Goodyear's site, called Topper, is a layer cake of ancient
remains, including scrapers and blades from a level estimated to be 16,000 to
20,000 years old. Researchers generally believe that a “Clovis people” were
the first to reach North America, crossing from Siberia to Alaska on a land
bridge about 14,000 years ago. Nevertheless, discoveries unearthed at sites
such as Meadowcroft in Pennsylvania, Monte Verde in Chile, and now Topper
suggest that humans arrived much earlier. The findings are still viewed by
many with skepticism. Some view Goodyear’s calls artifacts as just ordinary
rocks. Goodyear, too, once doubted pre-Clovis theories, but Topper changed
his attitudes. These early humans in North America may have been coastal
fisher-gatherers; says Goodyear. "The lower South was never glaciated.
It may have been a pretty nice place for humans to come and hang out for a
while." In Goodyear's view, it's time for archaeologists to push past
the "Clovis-first" model. Pre-Clovis is still controversial,
"but the tide is turning;' he says. "We need to dig deeper." – This
discovery could push back the date of a community of humans believed to have
lived in central Indiana in early Pre-Classic times (see Indiana), and might be related to an even
earlier site suspected in Kansas (see Kansas). Reference: Shea, Neil.
2005. The First
Americans? Discovery Could Rewrite
History of Human migration. Natl.
Geographic Mag., May. p. xxxii Additional Websites: http://www.sandlapper.org/allendal.htm http://uscnews.sc.edu/topperphotos.html http://gsa.confex.com/gsa/2001AM/finalprogram/abstract_28036.htm http://www.cr.nps.gov/seac/outline/02-paleoindian/se_paleo/14-annotated.htm |
