Topper is an archaeological site located along the Savannah River in Allendale County, South Carolina, United States.
The site measures approximately 0.1 miles (0.16 km) east-west and slightly more than half of that distance north–south, although the full extent of the archaeological deposits has not yet been determined.
Stone suitable for forming into tools is scarce north and east of Topper, making the site attractive for hunter-gatherers from that area.
Above that is a 1.5 metres (4.9 ft) thick layer of gravel, sand and sandy silty clay, thought to have been deposited by braided streams prior to 15,000 years ago.
Starting about 13,000 years an ago a 1 metre (3.3 ft) thick layer of silty sand was deposited by wind and surface water flow and soil creep from hillside above the terrace.
The Clariant company, which had also contributed to the funding for the pavilion, built a viewing deck overlooking the excavation site on the terrace.
In 1998, the Allendale Paleoindian Expedition,[a] under the direction of Albert Goodyear, was scheduled to work on the Smiths Lake Creek site on the Savannah River.
Chert fragments, some of which were interpreted as artifacts (resulting from human action) and lumps of charcoal were found from 130 to 210 centimetres (51 to 83 in) below the surface, well below the layer identified as Paleoindian or Clovis.
[5] Two areas at the Topper site, the "Pleistocene terrace" and the "hillside", have yielded a substantial number of Clovis artifacts from intact buried deposits.
Since the early 21st century, this standard theory has been challenged based on the discovery and dating of pre-Clovis sites such as Monte Verde in Southern Chile, Cactus Hill in Virginia, and Buttermilk Creek in Texas.
Goodyear, who began excavating the Topper site in the 1980s, believes that lithic objects at that level are rudimentary stone tools (and thus "artifacts").
Waters, et al. state that the proposed artifacts found below the Clovis horizon at the Topper site may be natural rather than man-made.