Dr. George Calfas', Anthropology alumni writing is featured in Illinois News for his contribution to a Met Exhibit entitled “Hear Me Now: The Black Potters of Old Edgefield, South Carolina.” The exhibit features a stoneware vessel that Dr. Calfas had excavated during a UofI field school at Edgefield County, South Carolina, and focuses on enslaved potters' production. Here is a video from the Met on the exhibit and the vessel.
Dr. Calfas and colleagues at the field school were able to unearth a 105-foot pottery kiln, able to produce thousands of pottery pieces per month. Their finding and reception from the academic community was able to shift the scholarly narrative on enslaved pottery production in South Carolina.
Dr. Calfas is currently a Research Associate in the department and Supervisory Archaeologist with the U.S. Army Engineer Research and Development Center.