By PETER FROST
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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 estimated 37,000 years before the earliest-known inhabitants, known as the Clovis culture. It was a discovery that rocked the archaeological community and generated international media attention. To date, it's the oldest radiocarbon-dated site in North America, Goodyear said. "The entire Western Hemisphere is coming under closer scrutiny," Goodyear said. "Everything that I was taught as a student is breaking down rapidly." For decades, the Clovis culture has been recognized as the oldest in the New World. Goodyear discovered evidence of the Clovis at what's called the "Topper site" more than 20 years ago, when he and a researcher found a fluted spear point, the signature tool of the culture. Then, in 1998, Goodyear decided to dig deeper. He and a rotating group of scientists and volunteers uncovered evidence of a pre-Clovis culture well below the level at which the Clovis artifacts were found. In 2004, they uncovered artifacts about 12 feet underground -- about seven feet below the Clovis finds. Goodyear and his group will be back in May for five weeks, offering volunteers the opportunity to work alongside archaeologists and researchers in their quest to debunk the long-held theory that man arrived in North America around 13,000 years ago. Hilton Head Island resident Jean Guilleux, 64, has assisted Goodyear and his crews for the past five years and plans to volunteer for the May dig. "After I retired, I became fascinated with archaeology and decided to go and get my hands dirty," he said. "After the first dig, I was hooked." Guilleux, who is also the president of the Hilton Head chapter of the Archaeological Association of South Carolina, said he's "done it all" at the digs. He's specialized on the pre-Clovis digs for the last three years, digging soil, sifting for artifacts and watching scientists test their finds in the lab. "It's absolutely fantastic," he said.
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