Virginia Department of Historic Resources Virginia Department of Historic Resources
For additional information, read the Nomination Form PDF
VLR Listing Date 03/14/2001
DHR's Virginia Board of Historic Resources easement
Cactus Hill Archaeological Site is a Native American campsite located next to the Nottoway River in Sussex County. It contains stratified and well-preserved deposits dating to the Woodland, Archaic, and Paleoindian periods, thereby spanning the entire period of Native American settlement in Virginia prior to European contact. Two archaeological research teams have led excavations at Cactus Hill, the Nottoway River Survey and the Archeological Society of Virginia. Drawing national and international attention are extremely rare archaeological deposits predating Paleoindian Clovis occupation, making Cactus Hill one of the oldest Native American sites yet discovered in all of North and South America. Charcoal from these pre-Clovis deposits at the Cactus Hill Archaeological Site have been radiocarbon dated to more than 15,000 years ago.
[VLR Listed Only]
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Abbreviations:
VLR: Virginia Landmarks Register
NPS: National Park Service
NRHP: National Register of Historic Places
NHL: National Historic Landmark
Updated: July 29, 2022
