Watson's contributions to the field of archaeology, particularly her work in the American Southeast, have left a lasting impact on the understanding of ancient human societies.
[3] In 1953, Watson attended the University of Arizona's Point of Pines field school where she became interested in flotation techniques.
[1][2] Her husband Richard A. Watson convinced her to change her focus from Near Eastern archaeology to work in North America.
[10] In the 1960s in Mammoth Cave, she introduced the practice of performing recreations of ancient lifeways as a method of filling in gaps from incomplete archaeological data.
"She has contributed centrally to techniques for recovering carbonized plant remains from archaeological deposits and to understanding the independent origin of pre-maize agriculture in pre-Columbian eastern North America.
"[13] The article credited Watson with "establishing the best qualitative and quantitative data for an early agricultural complex in North America" and with helping to "introduce the scientific method into archaeological studies.