Site Formation and the location of Chinese Structures in Wyoming

Summary

This is an abstract from the session entitled "Paper / Report Submission (General Sessions)", at the 2023 annual meeting of the Society for Historical Archaeology.

Theories abound regarding defining inside and outside spaces in archaeology. In Wyoming, Chinese site formation is similar to elsewhere and so is site destruction. In Wyoming, intentional fires like in the case of the 1885 Chinese Massacre, looting of the sites, reconstruction, urban development, and infrastructure construction have seriously damaged the cultural deposits in former Chinese communities. In this presentation, we will put forward a description of how micro-remains, protein antiserums, and even pollen analysis can aid in defining internal and external spaces in Chinese homes. The presentation will use two case studies from Rock Springs and Evanston to show where structures were burned, the land bulldozed and built atop, and those newer buildings destroyed, and we were able to relocate 19th Century Chinese homes, in part by using micro analysis.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• SHA 2023 General Sessions   •
• Society for Historical Archaeology 2023

Keywords

Individual & Institutional Roles

Contact(s): Nicole Haddow