Chinese Immigrant Life in late-19th-century San Jose, California: Macroremains from Market Street Chinatown

Summary

Food provides an excellent means for exploring the experiences of the Overseas Chinese because it is integral to cultural identity and reflects adaptations to new environmental, economic, and social settings. Plant remains recovered from the late-19th-century Chinatown in San Jose, California, present a picture of the complexity of Chinatown life. They represent a variety of activities such as purchasing food and medicine from local farms and Chinese grocery stores to prepare for daily meals and festivities and to promote good health. They attest to the strong ties between the Overseas Chinese and traditional Chinese foodways as well as the active role the Overseas Chinese took in molding 19th century farming in California.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Being Chinese: Current Scholarship on the Chinese Diaspora in 19th-Century North America   •
• Society for Historical Archaeology 2016

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Spatial Coverage

Individual & Institutional Roles

Contact(s): Society for Historical Archaeology

Record Identifiers

PaperId(s): 464