Beneath These Waters: Archaeological and Historical Studies of 11,500 Years Along the Savannah River

Beneath These Waters is an interpretation for a general audience of archeological and historical research conducted in the Richard B. Russell Multiple Resource Area from 1969 through 1985. Since the original publication of this volume in 1993, a companion volume entitled In Those Days, African-American Life Near the Savannah River was published in 1994. In Those Days is based on archival and oral history research conducted in the early 1980's. The research preceded building of the Richard B. Russell Dam and Lake, a U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Project in the upper Savannah River Valley, at the Georgia-South Carolina boundary. In assembling non-technical accounts of at least 11,000 years of human occupation in four counties surrounding the project area, emphasis has been placed on explaining the information so that it will be entertaining and easily understood, while retaining accuracy. In preparing Beneath These Waters, we believe that professional writers Sharyn Kane and Richard Keeton have shown their adeptness in the practice of public writing on technical subjects. Kane and Keeton's writings have appeared in highly competitive forums, and they have also won awards for their work. Yet, because they are not formally trained archeologists or historians and were unfamiliar with the world of federal contracting, they faced distinct disadvantages in taking on the task of writing this book. Their assignment necessitated a massive crash course in archeological method and general practice, aided in large part by the existing and excellent Richard B. Russell Cultural Resources Investigations Program technical summary volumes. Still, this unfamiliarity with technical know-how gave them an important advantage in writing the RBR popular history: nearly complete objectivity in viewing the overall project and its results, unencumbered by the predictable baggage of professional biases, cultivated styles, and emotions attached to a project of this magnitude and importance.