Archeological Reconnaissance of Selected Portions of the Savannah River Floodplains, Richard B. Russell Reservoir, Georgia and South Carolina, Savannah River Floodplains 1980

This report presents the results of an archeological reconnaissance of portions of the previously unsurveyed floodplains in the Richard B. Russell Reservoir, Savannah River, Georgia and South Carolina (Figure 1). The investigations were conducted by Thunderbird Research Corporation (TRC) under a contract with Interagency Archeological Services, Atlanta, and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Savannah, Georgia, District. The reconnaissance was conducted during October and November, 1979, with Dr. William M. Gardner serving as principal investigator. Lauralee Rappleye served as field supervisor.
TRC was originally contracted to investigate the Late Pleistocene through Middle Holocene cultural and environmental history and to locate any archeological sites and paleo-ecological settings which would date to this period and provide information on man-land relationships during this period. Both the nature of this investigation and the scope of work for the project demanded an inter-disciplinary approach. TRC's team consisted of a geomorphologist and pedologist and their assistants, and archeologists trained in and having field experience in environmental archeology.
This project had just begun when the contract was amended to include test excavations at 21 previously reported floodplain sites and the testing of some 3,000 acres of floodplain along the Savannah and its tributaries which had not been previously investigated. As result, the Late PleistoceneMiddle Holocene project was pushed into the background to be pursued at a later date. The two added projects became the focus of the investigations. Data from these later projects was gathered with the earlier project in mind. The work already accomplished on the Late Pleistocene-Middle Holocene investigation was integrated into the site testing program and floodplain reconnaissance.