Cactus Hill site

E222376

Cactus Hill site is an archaeological location in southeastern Virginia notable for evidence suggesting some of the earliest human occupation in North America, potentially predating the Clovis culture.

All labels observed (1)

Label Occurrences
Cactus Hill site canonical 1

How this entity was disambiguated

Statements (46)

Predicate Object
instanceOf archaeological site
prehistoric site
clovisOccupationDate approximately 13,000 years ago
controversy age estimates of deepest cultural levels
interpretation of pre-Clovis layer integrity
country United States of America
surface form: United States
earliestOccupationDate possibly between 18,000 and 20,000 years ago
environment Pleistocene sand dune
terrace above the Nottoway River
excavatedBy archaeologists from Virginia
excavationStartDate 1990s
hasArchaeologicalCulture Archaic
Clovis
Paleo-Indian period
surface form: Late Paleoindian

Pre-Clovis
hasArtifactType Clovis fluted points
small triangular points in pre-Clovis levels
hasDatingMethod optically stimulated luminescence dating
radiocarbon dating
hasEvidence bifacial points
blade tools
charcoal
debitage
faunal remains
hearth features
stone tools
hasResearchOutcome support for possibility of human presence in Eastern North America before Clovis
hasSignificance key site in challenging the Clovis-first model
one of the earliest claimed human occupation sites in Eastern North America
hasStratigraphicFeature distinct separation between Clovis and underlying levels
locatedIn North America
Southeastern Virginia
Sussex County, Virginia
United States of America
surface form: United States
locatedOn Nottoway River
namedAfter cactus plants on the nearby sand hill
notableFor evidence of early human occupation in North America
possible pre-Clovis occupation
well-preserved stratified sand dune deposits
preservationStatus partially protected but not a major public tourist site
researchTopic Clovis-first debate
peopling of the Americas
pre-Clovis hypothesis
state Virginia
stratigraphy multiple stratified cultural layers
terrain sandy ridge with sparse vegetation

How these facts were elicited

Referenced by (1)

Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.

Paleo-Indian period associatedWith Cactus Hill site