A rare intact pot is helping archaeologists reconstruct life and cultural exchange at Mission San Francisco de Potano. Four centuries after someone shaped a small clay vessel by hand, University of Florida students lifted it from the soil completely intact. Students recover a rare intact potThe discovery came during a field course taught by Waters and Charles Cobb, curator of historical archaeology at the museum. Pottery records movement and cultural changeSoon after recovering the small vessel, the students found fragments from a much larger pot with markedly different characteristics. It’s really neat to see these differences and connections in the artifacts,” Waters said.