River Basin Surveys Papers, No. 6: Rembert Mounds, Elbert County, Georgia

The River Basin Surveys concept marks a nationwide acceptance by archaeologists of a leading role in the conservationist movement. If one agrees that an increment of archaeological knowledge has value, then it follows that every time a site is excavated ahead of inundation the act is one of preservation of a national as well as an intellectual resource. Beginning in 1945, the River Basin Survey Papers describe inter-agency salvage archaeological projects in thirteen states which include Oregon, New Mexico, Kansas, Texas, Georgia, Nebraska, South Dakota, North Dakota, Wyoming, Virginia, Washington, California, and North Carolina. The River Basin Surveys Papers were published between 1953 and 1967 and include 39 individual reports.

During an archeological survey of the Clark Hill Reservoir in Georgia and South Carolina, by Carl F. Miller and the writer from January 12 to June 1, 1948, a number of test excavations were made at the site of the former Rembert mounds. This important group, almost totally destroyed since it was first described by William Bartram in 1773 (Van Doren, 1928, pp. 265-66), has never adequately been treated in a scientific report, and indeed is scarcely mentioned in any recent publication dealing with southeastern archeology. The waters of the new Clark Hill Reservoir will cover the place sometime in 1952, and it is possible that no more digging ever will be done.

流域调查（River Basin Surveys）理念标志着考古学界在保护主义运动中主导地位的全国性认可。倘若认可考古知识的增量具有价值，那么每一次在洪水淹没前开展遗址发掘的行为，实则都是对国家资源与智力资源的保护。1945年起，《流域调查报告集》（River Basin Survey Papers）记述了分布于俄勒冈州、新墨西哥州、堪萨斯州、得克萨斯州、佐治亚州、内布拉斯加州、南达科他州、北达科他州、怀俄明州、弗吉尼亚州、华盛顿州、加利福尼亚州及北卡罗来纳州共13个州的跨机构抢救性考古项目。《流域调查报告集》于1953年至1967年间出版，共计包含39份独立报告。

1948年1月12日至6月1日期间，卡尔·F·米勒（Carl F. Miller）与本文作者针对佐治亚州及南卡罗来纳州的克拉克希尔水库（Clark Hill Reservoir）开展考古调查，并在原伦伯特土丘（Rembert mounds）遗址开展了多组试掘工作。这一重要遗址群自威廉·巴特兰（William Bartram）1773年首次记述以来（范·多伦，1928年，第265-266页），几乎已完全损毁，却从未有科学报告对其进行充分研究，且在近期任何关于东南部考古学的出版物中都几乎未曾被提及。新建的克拉克希尔水库将于1952年的某个时段淹没该遗址，此后或再无开展发掘工作的可能。