Archaeological Survey of Lookout Valley, Georgia

Until recently, archaeological research in the Southeast has been oriented toward the excavation of a relatively disjointed collection of sites, with particular emphasis on the excavation of mounds and large habitation areas. Seldom have archaeologists looked beyond the site to the more complex intersite relationships. Past emphasis on large sites has lead archaeologists to ignore less spectacular and less impressive sites. Such sites have usually been viewed as being unimportant or insignificant, or were entirely overlooked because of their small size or the lack of any systematic sampling scheme. As a consequence of these practices, most of the data presently available concerning past human activity in the Southeast is based on a very small collection of unrelated sites. The Lookout Valley research project is an attempt to change this situation. During an eight week period from mid June through mid-August 1975, a research team from the University of Georgia conducted an archaeological reconnaissance of the Lookout Valley watershed. The research area is located in Dade County, Georgia in the extreme northwestern corner of the state. The goal of the survey was to systematically locate sites in a designated research universe for the purpose of collecting cultural and locational data to test certain hypotheses concerning locational variability of prehistoric settlements. Particular emphasis is being placed on testing these hypothesis with data collected from Woodland sites located in the area. A total of 62 sites were located during the first phase of investigation of which 32 sites have been tentatively classified as having Woodland components.