title: Pot Luck : Adventures in Archaeology author: Lister, Florence Cline. publisher: University of New Mexico isbn10 | asin: 082631760X print isbn13: 9780826317605 ebook isbn13: 9780585187822 language: English Lister, Florence Cline, Women archaeologists--Southwest, New-- subject Biography, Indian pottery--Southwest, New- -Analysis, Pottery, Ancient--Africa-- Analysis, Pottery, Ancient--Spain--Analysis. publication date: 1997 lcc: E78.S7L62 1997eb ddc: 930.1/092 Lister, Florence Cline, Women archaeologists--Southwest, New-- subject: Biography, Indian pottery--Southwest, New- -Analysis, Pottery, Ancient--Africa-- Analysis, Pottery, Ancient--Spain--Analysis. Page i Pot Luck Page ii Page iii Pot Luck Adventures in Archaeology Florence C. Lister University of New Mexico Press Albuquerque Page iv © 1997 by the University of New Mexico Press. All Rights Reserved. Second paperbound printing, 1997. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Lister, Florence Cline. Pot luck : adventures in archaeology / Florence C. Lister. 1st ed. p. cm. ISBN 0-8263-1760-X 1. Lister, Florence Cline. 2. Women archaeologistsSouthwest, NewBiography. 3. Indian potterySouthwest, NewAnalysis. 4. Pottery, AncientAfricaAnalysis. 5. Pottery, AncientSpainAnalysis. I. Title. E78.S7L62 1997 930.1'092dc20 [B] 96-10006 CIP Page v My paean of joy and thanksgiving for Bob, Frank, and Gary, and the potters of the world Page vii Contents Foreword ix Preface xi How It Began 1 M for Mesoamerica 15 At Home in the Southwest 47 Off to Africa 61 With a Spanish Accent 87 About Bob 165 Index 181 Page ix Foreword In their foreword to Hidden Scholars: Women Anthropologists and the Native American Southwest, Nathalie and Richard Woodbury observe that in the past many women were "too often a part of the background of southwestern studies" and rarely gained the prominence of their male counterparts. Florence Lister always has been reticent to take her place among the women and men who have contributed to a better understanding of human history, but this book helps to set the record straight. Though her contributions are reflected in a long string of books, monographs, and articles, this book differs from earlier works in two significant ways. First, she is the sole author, a role she would not have chosen, but which was caused by the untimely death of Bob, her cherished husband and long-time collaborator. Second, this is a "behind-the-scenes" book that not only gives the reader an understanding of scientific inquiry, but also a good sense of the serendipity that often characterizes good analytical research. The book has other strong merits. Through a variety of exquisitely drawn vignettes, Florence ably conveys the importance of ceramic studies to anthropology. Her effectiveness in doing so comes from having been deeply involved in essentially every task associated with producing, using, and studying pottery. This is a woman who, among other things, has washed potsherds, analyzed paste and temper, thrown and fired pots, cooked frijoles in ollas, and compared notes on maiolica production centers with the small set of world experts on that subject (of which she is a leading member). She also rather effortlessly helps us to see how ceramics can serve as