An intensive survey of 30 recreational club lease tracts (360.8 acres) within the Corps of Engineers' (Savannah District) Clarks Hill Lake property resulted in the location of 19 archaeological sites, ranging from Early and Middle Archaic aboriginal campsites to 19th and early 20th century dispersed farmstead sites. Other historic features typical of rural settlement in Columbia, Lincoln, and McDuffie Counties (Georgia) were recorded by the survey, including an unmarked cemetery and fieldstone rock piles. All of the prehistoric sites were located on ridge top and high contour land forms in close proximity to the present lakeshore. These locations were once within 265 - 909 meters (875 - 3,000 feet) of the former stream channels of Chigoe Creek, Soap Creek, Keg Creek (Rank 2 streams), Little River (Rank 3 stream), and Savannah River (Rank 4 stream). A basic research design focusing on prehistoric and historic settlement distribution and landscape change was used to derive a successful field strategy, structure the survey, and interpret its findings.
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