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Fire Pit Dated to Be Over 50,000 Years Old Thu Nov 18,10:10 AM ET Top Stories - AP By AMY GEIER EDGAR, Associated Press Writer COLUMBIA, S.C. - In the growing debate about when people first appeared on this continent, a leading archaeologist said Wednesday he has discovered what could be sooty evidence of human occupation in North America tens of thousands of years earlier than is commonly believed.University of South Carolina archaeologist Al Goodyear said he has uncovered a layer of charcoal from a possible hearth or fire pit at a site near the Savannah River. Samples from the...

Dredging the Savannah River is like a box of chocolates, say those who head up the task. You never know what you're gonna find. How about three cannons that may date to the American Revolution, an anchor and a likely piece of ship's timber?The Army Corps of Engineers halted work in the vicinity after the late February discovery east of the Georgia city's famous River Street. Then it sent out feelers to maritime experts, historians and those who have worked on wreck sites in the river, asking for their insight into the finds. Perhaps the cannons were tossed overboard or...

COLUMBIA, SC (WSPA) – Attorney General Alan Wilson announced Monday that the State of South Carolina and the United States have reached a settlement to end litigation related to weapons-grade plutonium that was relocated to the Savannah River Site in the early 2000s. According to the settlement, the U.S. will pay South Carolina $600 million immediately and the Department of Energy says they will remove the plutonium by 2037 The settlement ends six years of litigation related to the remaining 9.5 metric tons of weapons-grade plutonium. According to the release, South Carolina will allow the Department of Energy 16.5 years...

Tonnage and undersized propulsion, combined with the strength of the Savannah River's currents and tides, pigeonholed the vessel into becoming a floating battery across from Old Fort Jackson, where it guarded against a Union naval advance into Savannah.

The armored husk of a Confederate warship is being raised out of the depths of a Georgia river, 150 years after the ship's crew deliberately sunk it. Government officials are pulling approximately 250,000 lbs. (113,000 kilograms) of the warship CSS Georgia's armored siding — the ship's skeleton — from the Savannah River. Crews are raising the Civil War-era ship's remains in 10,000-lb. (4,500 kg) chunks that measure about 4 feet tall by 24 feet wide (1.2 by 7.3 meters). The siding is the last major ship part remaining in the water; Navy divers began retrieving the ship's unexploded shells, cannons...

AIKEN, SC (WFXG) - According to Savannah River Site officials, a potential security event is in progress that has triggered emergency response activities at the Department of Energy’s Savannah River Site. Site barricades are currently closed to incoming traffic. There is no indication of a consequence beyond the Savannah River Site boundaries. WFXG has a reporter on the way and will update you as we learn

Rosetta's lander lasted just 60 hours on a comet after it bounced into the dark shadows of a cliff, where its solar panels couldn't power the vehicle. Why didn't it carry a more reliable power source, say a nuclear battery like one that's unfailingly fueled Voyager for decades? It's a simple question with a fascinating answer, one that begins with the Cold War and ends with the future space exploration. When it comes to space travel, plutonium-238 is the perfect fuel: long-lasting and, as I'll explain later, relatively safe. Without it, we have no hope of going much further than...

South Carolina Republican Gov.-elect Nikki Haley challenged President Barack Obama over his landmark health care overhaul Thursday in a candid, personal exchange in front of Cabinet members and newly elected governors from across the country. In an exchange that White House aides didn't dispute, Obama rejected Haley's request to repeal the health care bill... "I said the people of South Carolina and the small businesses of South Carolina cannot afford the mandated health care law they had passed," Haley said after the meeting. "I told him that our economy is already in a tough spot, and our budget cannot sustain...