In the last decade, scientists have made startling discoveries indicating that Ice Age humans were in the Western hemisphere between 15–20,000 years ago. In this find from the ETV Tape Vault, scientists and researchers take us on a virtual field trip to the Topper Site, located near the Savannah River in Allendale County, South Carolina.
The story of the Topper dig site has gained international attention, since it challenges previously established notions of when humans first arrived in the Western Hemisphere. Using the grid system, researchers and volunteers share the excitement of finding and touching an object that was last handled by someone 15,000 or 26,000 years ago!
Volunteers are crucial to these archaeological dig sites; they not only donate time and money for research, but also get the opportunity to work alongside nationally recognized scientists and experts. The initiative has been spurred on additionally by corporations and the people of Clarendon County, South Carolina.
The Topper Site discovery is the latest example illustrating the controversy that exists in American archaeology today concerning when and how man first arrived in the Western hemisphere. At the conclusion of the program, archaeologists Al Goodyear and Dennis Sanford appear on a panel fielding questions.
