approximately 37,000 years before the Clovis people. Goodyear, who began excavating the Topper site in the 1980s, believes that lithic objects at that level are rudimentary stone tools (and thus "artifacts"). Other archaeologists dispute this conclusion, suggesting that the objects are natural and not human-made. Some archaeologists also have challenged the radiocarbon dating of the carbonized remains at Topper, arguing that 1) the stain represented the result of a natural fire, and 2) 50,000 years is the theoretical upper limit of effective radiocarbon dating, meaning that the stratum is radiocarbon dead, rather than dating to that time period. Goodyear discovered the objects by digging 4 meters deeper than the Clovis artifacts readily found at the site. Before discovering the oldest lithics, he had discovered other objects which he claimed were tools dating around 16,000 years old, or about 3,000 years before Clovis. According to Dean Snow, this assertion of 3,000 years is a much more likely and plausible number than the upper limit of radiocarbon dating. Evidence predating Clovis culture by a few thousand years is popularly termed as the "pioneer" stage of Clovis culture. This would be the birth of the culture and the start of the tool set. Researchers agree that the lack of evidence would stem from the lack of materials at hand. New techniques would take time to spread. The pioneer hypothesis allows for tools to predate by centuries rather than millennia. Allendale expedition The annual Allendale expedition (which ended in 2012) allowed non-archaeologists to work at the site as volunteer archaeologists in late spring and early summer. They worked in various field and lab roles on teams headed by professional archaeologists and graduate students. References External links Topper Site page CNN: "Man In Americas Earlier Than Thought", Quote: The University of South Carolina announces radiocarbon tests that dated the first human settlement in North America to 50,000 years ago. Archaeological sites in South Carolina Geography of Allendale County, South Carolina Pre-Clovis archaeological sites in the Americas