In this chapter, consideration is given to the history and current state of the historical archaeology of Asian Americans. The chapter begins with a discussion of how Asian American historical archaeology got started in the 1970s. This discussion is followed by a review of how this field has developed through the decades, up to the present day. Developmental trends in Asian American historical archaeology are identified. These include the emergence of increasingly sophisticated methods that have allowed for more useful comparative studies; a growing interest in theoretical matters, making it possible for historical archaeologists to not only describe but also explain Asian American experiences; and the growing primacy of assimilation studies among historical archaeologists studying Asian Americans, only to be very recently challenged by a growing postprocessual interest in individual agency, resistance to accommodation, and other postmodern concerns.
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Acknowledgments
Thanks to Teresita Majewski for asking me to write this chapter. Thanks also to various people in the Department of Community and Human Development, City of El Paso, Texas, for giving me a chance to excavate El Paso’s Chinatown, my introduction to Asian American historical archaeology. I am especially grateful to Roberta Greenwood, recognized leader in this area of inquiry, who has been an inspiration for more than two decades.
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Staski, E. (2009). Asian American Studies in Historical Archaeology. In: Gaimster, D., Majewski, T. (eds) International Handbook of Historical Archaeology. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-0-387-72071-5_20
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