Reframing Overseas Chinese Archaeology as Archaeology of the Chinese Diaspora

Abstract

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.