SEDIMENTARY FRAMEWORK FOR THE ALLENDALE-TOPPER SITE

Seventeen cores were taken in Allendale, South Carolina adjacent to the Savannah River to reconstruct the fluvial history and establish stratigraphic framework for the Topper Site hoping to date the sedimentary section that contains pre-Clovis artifacts. Vibracoring method was used to collect cores from the alluvial plain and eastern bank of Savannah River. Recovered sediments were collected in aluminum core pipes. The cores were then split vertically, photographed using digital photography, and described to provide the base for reconstruction of depositional environments and cores’ correlation. Several samples for radiocarbon dating have been taken from longer cores. Savannah River Valley does not exhibit one continuous episode of fluvial deposition, but rather a series of cut and fill depositional events. However, collected cores show reliable correlation between cores and with the Topper Site. Four sedimentary units were distinguished in Turnaround coring site according to sediment lithology and texture, representing four different depositional environments in the studied area. Carbon dating provided dates of 37,810 yrs. BP ± 570 yrs, 34,210 yrs. BP ± 370yrs, 25,330 yrs. BP ± 130yrs and 18,500 yrs. BP from silty clay and sand sections of recovered cores that stratigraphically correspond to the sedimentary section of Topper Site.