The Richard B. Russell Dam and Lake are located on the upper portion of the Savannah River drainage and its tributaries in Georgia and South Carolina.
The projected area encompassed a total of 52,000 acres, much of which witnessed was surveyed by archaeologist in the late 1960s and 1970s.
About half of that the project area 26,650 acres, was located in the floodpool and the remainder was in the adjoining public use lands and was less intensively examined.
[4] These 30 sites were chosen for a more intense examination after consulting with the Georgia and South Carolina State Historic Preservation offices.
[3] There were many important historic and prehistoric archaeological sites that were discovered in the Richard B. Russell Reservoir that helped give us a better understanding of when the initial inhabitants arrived, and about the different types of traditions that were located there.