the cultural heritage of the area traversed by the tennessee - tombigbee waterway between gainesville, alabama, and paden, mississippi, in historic times has been examined in geographical perspective. settlement patterns are related to four physiographic divisions; fall line hills, black belt prairie, pontotoc hills, ripley cuesta, and tombigbee terraces. settlement patterns are also defined in terms of three cultural traditions; euro-american (upland south and lowland south), black, and american indian. the characteristic locations and structure of specific material culture forms are described. transportation activities assessed include roads, forts, ferries, bridges, landings and railroads. agricultural activities discussed include upland south farmsteads, lowland south farmsteads, and rural afro-american settlement patterns. central place activities analyzed are county seats, port towns, railroad towns and rural hamlets. industrial activities treated are cotton ginning, cotton compressing, milling, metal working and brick making the study concludes with a statistical analysis of site types and an evaluation of predictive site models. the narrative is supported by numerous maps and tables, and an extensive bibliography of documentary, published and map sources. (author)