The Topper site is an archaeological site in Allendale County, South Carolina, along the Savannah River. It is notable for being an ancient chert quarry site, and one of only a handful of Clovis-era sites in the southeast which also produced lithic materials identified as pre-Clovis.
Excavations at Topper began in 1986, although the site was first identified five years earlier by University of South Carolina archaeologist Albert Goodyear, who found the location with the help of a local forester named John Topper. Goodyear identified the location as a quarry site, where ancient Paleoindians would extract Allendale Coastal Plain chert for use in their lithic tools. Archaic occupation was evident during Goodyear's early excavations in 1986, although by the late 1990s, an extensive Clovis presence in deeper strata became evident, resulting in the recovery of thousands of artifacts.
In this video, The Seven Ages Research Associates join Dr. Goodyear at the Topper site, as well as the nearby University of South Carolina Salkehatchie Campus, where Clovis and pre-Clovis artifacts recovered during various dig seasons at Topper are now on display.
Seven Ages would like to thank the following for making this video and related ongoing research possible:
The South Carolina Institute of Archaeology and Anthropology
The University of South Carolina Salkehatchie Campus
The Southeastern Paleoamerican Survey
We would also like to thank Christopher Moore Ph.D. and the Savannah River Archaeological Research Program, and of course, our sincerest thanks goes to Albert C. Goodyear Ph.D. for allotting time with us in the field, and for his dedication to research at Topper over the years.
For more information on Topper and related archaeology in the southeast, visit SoutheasternPaleoAmerican.org
You can also listen to the latest episode of our podcast, where we feature a long-format discussion between the Seven Ages Research Associates and Dr. Goodyear, along with our good friend Christopher R. Moore, Ph.D., where we discuss Topper and other ongoing archaeological field work in the southeast:
sevenages.org/podcasts/seven-...
ABOUT SEVEN AGES
he Seven Ages Research Associates are a team whose shared interests in history, archaeology, science, and culture bring us to fascinating places. Our collective experience relies on fields of study that include environmental science, geology, archaeology, historical research, media and video production, and other areas that combine to present information and content that is both accessible, but also disciplined and reliant on scholarly source material.
The Seven Ages Research Associates are:
Micah Hanks: writer, historical researcher and podcaster
Jason Pentrail: Environmental scientist, writer and researcher
James Waldo: Professional geologist and researcher, US Army (retired)
You can follow our work at sevenages.org/
Also, subscribe to our podcast, The Seven Ages Audio Journal, on Apple podcasts: itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/i...