It also depends upon the age of the site. Early archaic/late Paleo sites are typically altered tremendously over the past 10,000 or so years. Water sources will have changed or disappeared in that amount of time. A river or creek with 5' cut banks may have been at today's ground level. You can get a general idea from topography maps, but in my experience only general, depending upon the age. In Florida, I seem to find things closer to water sources, while in Georgia and Alabama the sites seem to be at much more elevated locations. Florida is typically at a lower elevation overall, but sites tend to be much closer- and in many cases adjacent- to water.
An early Archaic site I am currently searching is situated on a saddle between two dry bottoms, which were obviously spring heads thousands of years ago. The contour of the land shows that a creek or stream flowed out of each, and the difference in elevation between the saddle and the creek bottoms is now approximately 15 feet. It shows up easily on a topo map and, like Monsterrack stated above, it is more realistic on Google Earth. It was probably much greater of an elevation change 10,000 years ago, but with natural erosion and sedimentary deposit the drop is much more gentle.
That was a lot of talking to say this: look for obvious accessible water sources and a place to stay away from high water. There would also be a need for a latrine or waste disposal without contaminating the water supply, depending upon whether the site is a settlement or a camp. I was taught long ago that Indians wanted the same things we want today: comfort and accessibility. Put yourself in their shoes (or try to), and sometimes just a little common sense will help you find what you're looking for.
