Reframing Overseas Chinese Archaeology as Archaeology of the Chinese Diaspora

This paper argues in favor of renaming Overseas Chinese archaeology “Chinese diaspora archaeology” and adopting an explicitly diasporic theoretical and interpretive framework. It introduces and defines diaspora as a general phenomenon, outlines key features of early Chinese migration beginning in the sixteenth century, and explores debates over characterizing this migration process and overseas Chinese communities as diasporic. Finally, it introduces examples of how archaeologists have incorporated a diasporic framework into their research and offers a vision of what an archaeology of the Chinese diaspora might look like and what benefits in can offer the discipline.

Excavation of the Jiahu Site in Wuyang County, Henan in 2013

The eighth season of excavation at the Jiahu Site in the autumn of 2013 uncovered eight house foundations, 25 ash pits and 97 burials, along with hundreds of artifacts made of pottery, stone, bone and ivory. One of the most intriguing findings was the burial of two adult males underneath the living floor of a house foundation 2013F5 belonging to Phase I. They yielded rich grave goods that included bone flutes, engraved ivory plaque, a set of turtle shells, and other high-ranking artifacts. They are, to date, the first ever in-house burials found in Chinese archaeology. In addition, the other burials also yielded large amount of turquoise ornaments and exquisitely engraved ivory plaques. These findings are significant to the study of the prehistoric funeral practice and social differentiation during the early and middle Neolithic Age of China.