The site of Cactus Hill, a hill located 70 km from Richmond (Virginia), is one of the archaeological sites that contain evidence of a pre-Clovis presence of human population in North America. This site is located on a dune near the Nottoway River and contains a series of stratified cultural layers, starting from the deepest one corresponding to 20,000 years ago, until the period of the Clovis Culture.
Under the level of Clovis and just above a layer of sterile clay, archaeologists have discovered several stone flakes, projectile tips and scrapers, all made of quartz. Through the radiocarbon dating of a piece of blaco pine coal associated with them, these artifacts have been dated between 15 and 16 thousand years before the present.
Using the optically stimulated luminescence dating method, it was established that the artifacts found come from up to 18 thousand years before the present, as Joseph McAvoy, responsible for archaeological research at Cactus Hill, has stated that White pine coals from the lowest level of the dunes have been dated at 19,700 years (± 130 years) before the present.
According to researcher Vance Haynes Jr, a professor in the Department of Anthropology and Earth Sciences, University of Arizona, who specializes in Paleo-Indian cultures, Cactus Hill is now one of the best candidates to be recognized as an archaeological site. from the pre-Clovis era.
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