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It has gained attention for potentially challenging the long-standing Clovis-first model. The site is someone hilly. And, popular, because it has a chert quarry.

The site has proved notable because artifacts found at lower levels suggest human presence dating as far back as 50,000 years
In 2004, scientists announced carbonzied plant remains, found as a dark stain in the light soil. Were radiocarbon dated to 50,000 years ago.
Other archaeologists challenged, suggesting the stain is a result of natural fire. And, that 50,000 is the upper limit of radiocarbon dating. Goodyear (the scientist), also believed that lithic objects were found at this level. But some challenge it could be natural, and not man made.

The objects were found digging 4 meters deeper than clovis articles found at the site
Before discovering the oldest lithics. He had discovered objects he claimed to be tools from 16,000 years. Or, around 3,000 years before clovis. A more popular time period amongst western hemisphere archaeologists.

Other scientists note posited tools remained unchanged over 35,000 years
Which is unlike the changing assemblages of tools typically found from late pleistocene to holocene strata(s).

Did you know? As of the 2013, more than 840 square metres, or 9,000 sq ft has been excavated. Down to Clovis bearing material, or deeper. The areas known as “Pleistocene terrace” and “hillside”, have yielded a substantial number of Clovis artifacts from intact buried deposits.

Topper has sparked debate among archaeologists. It challenges established views on when and how the first humans arrived in the Americas. Not all archaeologists agree on the interpretation, with some suggesting that natural processes could account for their formation. Nevertheless, it remains a critical location for studying early human presence in the western hemisphere, and the possibility of pre-Clovis migrations.

Bibliography: Goodyear, Albert C. (August 1984). “Allendale Chert Quarries Archeological District” (http://www.nationalregister.sc.gov/allendale/S10817703001/S10817703001.pdf) (PDF). National Register of Historic Places – Nomination and Inventory.

Smallwood, Ashley (February 2015). “Context and spatial organization of the Clovis assemblage from the Topper site, South Carolina”. Journal of Field Archaeology. 40 (1): 69–88. doi:10.1179/0093469014Z.000000000106 (https://doi.org/10.1179%2F0093469014Z.000000000106). JSTOR 24408763 (https://www.jstor.org/stable/24408763).

Waters, Michael R.; Forman, Steven L.; Stafford, Thomas W.; Foss, John (July 1, 2009). “Geoarchaeological investigations at the Topper and Big Pine Tree sites, Allendale County, South Carolina” (https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0305440308003282). Journal of Archaeological Science. 36 (7): 1300–1311. doi:10.1016/j.jas.2008.12.020 (https://doi.org/10.101
6%2Fj.jas.2008.12.020). ISSN 0305-4403 (https://search.worldcat.org/issn/0305-4403).

Topper Site page (http://stoneandbone.cobb.msstate.edu/topper.html)

Goodyear, III, Albert C. (Spring 2005). “The Search for the Earliest Humans in the Land Recently Called South Carolina” (https://www.scseagrant.org/ancient-tools-searching-for-the-first-americans/). Coastal Heritage Magazine.