Archaeological Investigations at Brown Bottoms, 1977-2017, Chattahoochee- Oconee National Forests, Habersham and Stephens Counties, Georgia

Brown Bottoms is located along the border of Habersham and Stephens Counties on the Chattooga River Ranger District of the Chattahoochee-Oconee National Forest (Figure 1-1). It is an area characterized by a large alluvial bottomland formed by the juncture of several creeks with the Middle Fork of Broad River. Archaeological investigations have been carried out in this area intermittently since the 1970s, but except for the initial work at site 9ST24 (Futch 1977), none of this research has been reported. This work includes test excavations at several sites that have never been analyzed. Brown Bottoms contains a rich archaeological record that goes back several thousand years and could provide important information on the American Indian occupation of Northeast Georgia. Each archaeological site at Brown Bottoms with unreported pre-Contact collections will be discussed, followed by a final summary of interpretations and the significance of this area. Although there was also an extensive historic period occupation in the Brown Bottoms area, this has been addressed by Wynn (1995) and will not be summarized here.