Georgia's Inland Waters

Georgia's Inland Waters is a context document examining inundated sites in all but the state's coastline and coastal waters. This report was prepared in 2002 by Southern Research Historic Preservation Consultants, Inc. as a management document for the Archaeological Services Unit, Historic Preservation Division of the Georgia Department of Natural Resources. It examines submerged context documents of neighboring states, environments in Georgia containing underwater/near water/water related sites, and the identification and location of such resources in the state. The report includes a discussion of site conditions, research questions, and recommendations for an inundated sites program in Georgia. Sites studied are either partially in, or completely under water, seasonally, year-round, or during periods of average or high rainfall or high pool elevations in reservoirs. Georgia's hinterland includes a diverse range of man-made and natural environments containing underwater sites. These include rivers, lakes, ponds, swamps, bays, canals, and oxbows. Sites in these environments include aboriginal hamlets, lithic/pottery scatters; quarries, villages, and mounds; boat yards; bridges; dams; docks; ferry landings; fishweirs and fish dams; historic towns; locks; marine railways; mills; navigation structures, watercraft, and wharves. Of Georgia's 37,000 sites, approximately 2,059, or 5% were documented by this report as falling in the category of underwater, submerged, or water related. Problems relating to site recordation practices, database organization, and biases by field archaeologists, make it extremely difficult to ascertain reliable figures for the total number of such sites recorded in the Georgia Archaeological Site File in Athens. As with terrestrial sites, there are likely many more unrecorded submerged sites than recorded ones. The largest percentage of submerged sites in Georgia falls in areas now inundated by man-made lakes, such as United States Army Corps of Engineers and Georgia Power lakes. No archaeology has been conducted on most of Georgia's submerged sites (whether in lakes or elsewhere). Inundated sites study and management in Georgia includes many challenges and opportunities; challenges such as those involved in accurately recording sites in this data subset. Other challenges include those to the resource base in the form of natural impacts such as storms, erosion, droughts, floods, and fluctuating water levels. Man-made impacts can be challenging too, and include dredging, boating, "surface" collecting, looting, and development. Opportunities in the study of this field abound. Research issues include drainage and hydrology studies as it relates to man's interaction; navigational systems; and early man/woman studies. This report generated a number of research questions that can be asked of specific inundated site types. Wise stewardship of Georgia's inundated resources will require meeting these challenges and embracing opportunities. Such stewardship will require an energetic approach on numerous fronts, including administrative, legal, and public education, and will require partnerships and both proactive and reactive measures. We hope this report will facilitate wise stewardship efforts in an effective state Inundated Sites Program.