Cactus Hill

Scientists are not in agreement as to when and how people entered the Western hemisphere. Some scientists believe that early people crossed a land bridge from Europe into North America. This land bridge became visible when glaciers froze and the water levels dropped.

Archaeologists study human behavior and culture through the recovery and analysis of artifacts.

Cactus Hill is located in the Virginia Coastal Plain on a terrace above the Nottoway River in Southeastern Virginia.

The Cactus Hill site has been worked by archaeologists Lynn and Joseph McAvoy since 1995. It has a layer of Clovis tools (dated to around 10-11,000 years), a tool type that has for many years been thought to be the work of the earliest known migrants into America. This makes Cactus Hill one of the oldest sites found so far in North America. Animal remains (turtle and deer) suggest that the site may have been a seasonal hunting camp.