The Allendale-Topper Site conference, "Ice Age Man in South Carolina," will explore the evidence that human beings inhabited North America during the Ice Age, thousands of years earlier than previous estimates for human occupation here. The public event will be held in the Capstone Conference Center, and the registration fee of $125 includes an evening banquet Jan. 26 ($100 is tax deductible). Student registration is $25. For online registration, go to www.preclovis.net/topper.

"We're gearing this for a general audience, and the scientists will give public-friendly lectures about their research at the site," said Al Goodyear, a research professor in the S.C. Institute of Archaeology and Anthropology at USC who has led excavations at the Topper Site in Allendale County for several years. "I think anyone interested in archaeology will find this conference very thought provoking; we have found a site that has something to say about the peopling of the Western Hemisphere."

The Topper Site, named for forester David Topper who pointed it out years ago, has yielded artifacts that reveal the presence of human beings in the Western Hemisphere 16,000 or more years ago during the last Ice Age. The site is considered to be among the four most important sites in North America for early human being occupation studies.

The conference will include artifact displays and presentations by several Topper Site scientists. The keynote lecture, "The Future for Early Man Studies in the Southeast and the Role of a Center," will be presented the evening of Jan. 26 in the Campus Room.

The Topper discovery has garnered national media attention from CNN, U.S. News & World Report, Newsweek, National Geographic, New York Times, and Scientific American. The BBC is considering production of a documentary about the site.

To register for the conference or for more information, contact Goodyear at (803) 777-8170 or e-mail: goodyear@sc.edu.

01/02