An Historical Survey of Chinese Diaspora Archaeology in California as Told by a 53-Year Old Collection

Summary

This is an abstract from the session entitled "Boxed but not Forgotten Redux or: The Importance and Usefulness of Exploring Old or Forgotten Collections" , at the 2022 annual meeting of the Society for Historical Archaeology.

The 1969 excavation of Yreka, California’s third Chinatown is one the earliest archaeological investigations of a Chinese community in California and one of the first large-scale historical archaeological salvage projects in the State. The Yreka excavations took place at a time when the field of historical archaeology was coming into its own. The Society for Historical Archaeology (Society) was formed in 1967, and the first meeting of the Society was held the following year. Paul Chase and Chris Evans introduced the term “Overseas Chinese archaeology” at the second annual meeting.

Analysis of the now 53-year old collection from the Yreka excavations provides an “historical” glimpse into the early days of Overseas Chinese archaeology and early methodological approaches to the study of Chinese diasporic sites and artifacts. The challenges and benefits of working with older archaeological collections will be discussed.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Boxed but not Forgotten Redux or: The Importance and Usefulness of Exploring Old or Forgotten Collections   •
• Society for Historical Archaeology 2022

Keywords

Individual & Institutional Roles

Contact(s): Society for Historical Archaeology