Coffee With An Archaeologist: Dr. Lynne Kvapil

I sat down with professor and archaeologist Dr. Lynne Kvapil of Butler University to hear about her work and gain more insight in the world of archaeology. We started with speaking about her many summers in Greece where she co-leads an ongoing excavation to learn about the Mycenaean Greeks. I then got to hear about her work at Butler University as the director of the Ancient Mediterranean Cultures and Archaeology (AMCA) Lab where students can study and handle ancient artifacts. I never know what an archaeologist might say that will spark a connection between their work in the world and mine. In this meeting, the moment was when Lynne spoke about pottery. She shared her interest in understanding pottery production. In other words, how did they make their pots and what was their system. I asked her, when you come across a piece of pottery - how do you approach it? How do you begin to solve the puzzle? Her answer was, “I touch it”. In understanding how it was made, Lynne places her fingers in the same finger indentations that were made by the maker. And what I got from that was - she’s embodying the person who made it. She’s using her own body and senses in the present to understand someone else and a collective people from the past.