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Late-Nineteenth-Century Chinese Farm Workers in the California Mother Lode

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Abstract

Most archaeological studies of Chinese immigrants have focused on enclaves in cities, towns, villages, and work camps where insular tendencies are expected. This article focuses instead on the adaptations of Chinese immigrants employed at a small farm in the California Mother Lode region where they lived and worked in more ethnically mixed settings. Investigations at CA-AMA-364/H provide insights into adjustments made by the Chinese immigrants between 1851 and the turn of the century. Examination of a ledger left at the site in 1857 by a Chinese cook enhances those interpretations.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Cultural Studies Office, California Department of Transportation, PO Box 23660, MS 8A, Oakland, CA, 94623-0660, USA

    Thad M. Van Bueren

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  1. Thad M. Van Bueren
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Van Bueren, T.M. Late-Nineteenth-Century Chinese Farm Workers in the California Mother Lode. Hist Arch 42, 80–96 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF03377101

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