Cactus Hill
Encyclopedia
Cactus Hill is an archaeological site
in southeastern Virginia
, United States
. The site sits on sand dunes above the Nottoway River
and lies about 45 miles south of Richmond
. The site is owned by the International Paper Corporation
.
The site has yielded multiple levels of early occupation. Archaic stage material is underlain by fluted stone tools associated with the Clovis culture
reported dated to 10,920 BP. A lower level yields artifacts including unfluted bifacial
stone tools with ages reported ranging from 15,000 to 17,000 years old. White pine
charcoal from a hearth context on this level has reported dates to 15,070 radiocarbon years BP. Further charcoal deposits retrieved at the site have a reported date to as early as 19,700 years ago, although these deposits may have been made by forest fires. Cactus Hill is arguably the oldest archaeological site in North America.
Dennis Stanford
, proponent of the controversial Solutrean hypothesis
, suggests projectile points found in the 16,000 BP occupation layer pre-dating Clovis may provide an intermediary link between the Solutrean and Clovis cultures. According to Stanford, "In fact it's [the projectile point] closer to Solutrean than Clovis where you can see that it's in a progression between Solutrean and Clovis, so you have Solutrean, Cactus Hill and Clovis".
Virginia°N date=July 2009°W
Archaeological site
An archaeological site is a place in which evidence of past activity is preserved , and which has been, or may be, investigated using the discipline of archaeology and represents a part of the archaeological record.Beyond this, the definition and geographical extent of a 'site' can vary widely,...
in southeastern Virginia
Virginia
The Commonwealth of Virginia , is a U.S. state on the Atlantic Coast of the Southern United States. Virginia is nicknamed the "Old Dominion" and sometimes the "Mother of Presidents" after the eight U.S. presidents born there...
, United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. The site sits on sand dunes above the Nottoway River
Nottoway River
The Nottoway River is in southern Virginia and northeastern North Carolina. It is part of the Chowan River system, which flows into Albemarle Sound in North Carolina.-Cities and towns:Cities and towns along the river include:* Courtland, Virginia...
and lies about 45 miles south of Richmond
Richmond, Virginia
Richmond is the capital of the Commonwealth of Virginia, in the United States. It is an independent city and not part of any county. Richmond is the center of the Richmond Metropolitan Statistical Area and the Greater Richmond area...
. The site is owned by the International Paper Corporation
International Paper
International Paper Company is an American pulp and paper company, the largest such company in the world. It has approximately 59,500 employees, and it is headquartered in Memphis, Tennessee.-History:...
.
The site has yielded multiple levels of early occupation. Archaic stage material is underlain by fluted stone tools associated with the Clovis culture
Clovis culture
The Clovis culture is a prehistoric Paleo-Indian culture that first appears 11,500 RCYBP , at the end of the last glacial period, characterized by the manufacture of "Clovis points" and distinctive bone and ivory tools...
reported dated to 10,920 BP. A lower level yields artifacts including unfluted bifacial
Biface
In archaeology, a biface is a two-sided stone tool and is used as a multi purposes knife, manufactured through a process of lithic reduction, that displays flake scars on both sides. A profile view of the final product tends to exhibit a lenticular shape...
stone tools with ages reported ranging from 15,000 to 17,000 years old. White pine
Eastern White Pine
Pinus strobus, commonly known as the eastern white pine, is a large pine native to eastern North America, occurring from Newfoundland west to Minnesota and southeastern Manitoba, and south along the Appalachian Mountains to the northern edge of Georgia.It is occasionally known as simply white pine,...
charcoal from a hearth context on this level has reported dates to 15,070 radiocarbon years BP. Further charcoal deposits retrieved at the site have a reported date to as early as 19,700 years ago, although these deposits may have been made by forest fires. Cactus Hill is arguably the oldest archaeological site in North America.
Dennis Stanford
Dennis Stanford
Dennis J. Stanford in Cherokee, Iowa is an archaeologist and Director of the Paleo-Indian Program at the National Museum of Natural History at the Smithsonian Institution. Along with Prof...
, proponent of the controversial Solutrean hypothesis
Solutrean hypothesis
The Solutrean hypothesis proposes that peoples from Europe may have been among the earliest settlers in the Americas, as evidenced by similarities in stone tool technology of the Solutrean culture from prehistoric Europe to that of the later Clovis tool-making culture found in the Americas. It was...
, suggests projectile points found in the 16,000 BP occupation layer pre-dating Clovis may provide an intermediary link between the Solutrean and Clovis cultures. According to Stanford, "In fact it's [the projectile point] closer to Solutrean than Clovis where you can see that it's in a progression between Solutrean and Clovis, so you have Solutrean, Cactus Hill and Clovis".
External links
Virginia°N date=July 2009°W