Free Republic

Rediscovering AmericaThe New World may be 20,000 years older than experts thought BY CHARLES W. PETIT Late in the afternoon last May 17, a tired archaeological team neared the end of a 14-hour day winching muck to the deck of a Canadian Coast Guard vessel. It was in water 170 feet deep in Juan Perez Sound, half a mile offshore among British Columbia's Queen Charlotte Islands. For four days, team members had fruitlessly sieved undersea mud and gravel. Then, in the slanting light of sunset, a deckhand drew from the goop a triangular blade of dark basalt. Its sharp edge...

BARNWELL, S.C., June 24 - On a hillside by the Savannah River, under tall oaks bearded with Spanish moss, an archaeologist and a graduate student crouched in the humid depths of a trench. They had reason to think they were in the presence of a breathtaking discovery. Or at the least, they were on to something more than 20,000 years old that would throw American archaeology into further turmoil over its most contentious issue: when did people first reach America, and who were they?

‘Scientific American’ shines spotlight on S.C. dig By DOUG NYETelevision Editor Posted on Tue, Jul. 20, 2004 About 12,000 years ago, the first people to journey to the American continents did so by crossing the Bering land bridge from Asia. At least, that’s what archaeologists have long believed. But tonight’s edition of “Scientific American Frontiers” examines five archaeological sites that could prove that humans walked this land much earlier. Among the digs spotlighted is USC’s Topper excavation site in Allendale County, supervised by archaeologist Albert C. Goodyear, director of the Allendale Paleo-Indian Expedition of the S.C. Institute of Archaeology and...

Archaeologists to return to Allendale site in May By PETER FROST pfrost@islandpacket.com 843-706-8169 Published Saturday, February 17, 2007 It was on the banks of the Savannah River in Allendale County where Al Goodyear in 2004 found the clues of an ancient civilization that could rewrite the history books. The University of South Carolina archaeologist and a group of volunteers unearthed artifacts estimated to be 50,000 years old, implying humans lived on this continent before the last Ice Age, far earlier than previously believed. They uncovered what appeared to be cutting tools and stone chisels used by humans that existed an...

Archaeologist's find could shake up science By HEATHER URQUIDES Published January 7, 2007 Archaeologist Albert Goodyear is working on the find of his life. Based on radiocarbon tests and artifacts he's found along the Savannah River in South Carolina, Goodyear believes that humans existed in North America as many as 50,000 years ago, shattering the long-held notion that the earliest settlers arrived here about 13,000 years ago in Alaska via a lost land bridge. Not everyone is convinced, but Goodyear believes further excavation and testing at the South Carolina location, known as the Topper site, will confirm his findings. He's...