This volume documents the lives and work of pioneering women archaeologists in the southeastern United States from the 1920s to the 1960s. It portrays their professional accomplishments in the context of their personal lives. Some of the women who are still alive present their own stories.

This volume documents the lives and work of pioneering women archaeologists in the southeastern United States, from the 1920s through the 1960s, portraying their professional accomplishments in the context of their personal lives. Some of the women are working today, and they either wrote their own stories or were interviewed. Others are no longer living; their biographies are gleaned from archival research. Rich with humor, tragedy, and important information for the history of anthropology and archaeology in the South and beyond, this book includes the story of African-American women excavators on WPA crews during the Great Depression; tales of innovative lab work, adventurous fieldwork, and public archaeology; and provocative discussions of women in archaeology and of gender in the archaeological record.