An Intimate Bond: New Evidence for Human-Pig Relationships in Chinese Diaspora Communities

Summary

This is an abstract from the "Multispecies Frameworks in Archaeological Interpretation: Human-Nonhuman Interactions in the Past, Part II" session, at the 88th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

Pigs and humans have formed a mutualistic and symbiotic relationship since antiquity. In North America, large quantities of pig bones have been recovered from Chinese diaspora sites, indicating the importance of pigs to Chinese immigrant foodways. By analyzing pig dental calculus from Los Angeles Chinatown (1880–1933) excavations, this study reconstructs the pig management practice at the site. Analysis of food micro-remains suggests the Chinatown residents raised their own pigs within or near households, instead of purchasing from non-Chinese butchers. How did pig husbandry and co-inhabitation shape the daily lives of the Chinatown residents? How did pigs play a role in the Chinese negotiation of social identity and economic needs? Using a multispecies framework, this study explores an interdependent relationship between pigs and early Chinese immigrants and discusses how that relationship affected the overall functioning of Chinese diaspora communities during the Chinese Exclusion Era (1882–1943).

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Multispecies Frameworks in Archaeological Interpretation: Human-Nonhuman Interactions in the Past, Part II   •
• Society for American Archaeology 88th Annual Meeting, Portland, OR (2023)

Keywords

Spatial Coverage

Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 36027.0