Thesis Chapters by Lindsey M Evenson
EWU Libraries, Archives and Special Collections, Mar 2016
The lack of organized historical and archival documentation regarding the pre-1900s Chinese place... more The lack of organized historical and archival documentation regarding the pre-1900s Chinese placer miners in northeastern Washington has left the historical and archaeological records fragmented. Documentation of the Chinese placer mining activities in the region is poor, at best, and the scars left on the landscape by these miners are often inundated by the damming of the Columbia River (and other major waterways), or the sites are heavily eroded and damaged. The available historic and archival data has been organized and synthesized to create an historical context regarding the pre-1900s Chinese placer miners in the region. Furthermore, archaeological sites previously determined to be affiliated with Chinese placer miners have been evaluated and analyzed to create an archaeological context defining significant Chinese cultural features and/or artifacts of the Chinese placer mining operations. These identified features and artifacts are recommended for the pursuit of future archaeological site evaluations and field work for promising Chinese placer mining sites.
The historical and archaeological contexts have been combined to create four cultural components of Chinese placer mining sites that should be evaluated during future archaeological investigations of potential Chinese sites: artifacts, oral traditions, structures, and placer mining features. The combination of two or more of the abovementioned components located within the northeastern Washington State historic Chinese placer mining context is indicative of a Chinese placer mining site, camp, or other operational feature. It is recommended that future archaeological investigation be conducted for the sites identified within this project, with special attention given to the assessment of the four Chinese placer mining cultural components described, in order to determine their potential Chinese affiliations.
Bookmarks Related papers MentionsView impact
Conference Presentations by Lindsey M Evenson
70th Annual Northwest Anthropological Conference, Spokane WA, 2017
Not all placer mining sites are alike. Research conducted over the last twenty years has recogniz... more Not all placer mining sites are alike. Research conducted over the last twenty years has recognized the potential for placer sites to complete the historical record by addressing questions of population growth, ethnic relations, and socioeconomic pressures. This is especially true in the Pacific Northwest, where the earliest population booms were often fueled by a frenetic search for wealth and independence. The recovery of gold in the region's vast Columbia River drainage drew California 49ers, Chinese, and other groups into a complex political environment. By the time placer deposits were discovered near Fort Colvile in 1855, international dramas were already playing out between Native Americans, First Nations peoples, and the U.S. and British governments. This presentation summarizes relevant socioeconomic and political themes, and offers methodologies that can be used to recognize, interpret, and protect placer mining sites with the potential to yield data important to illuminating the role of ethnicity in our local mining history.
Bookmarks Related papers MentionsView impact
70th Annual Northwest Anthropological Conference, Spokane WA, 2017
There are many ways archaeologists discover pictographs in the field, the main one (obviously) be... more There are many ways archaeologists discover pictographs in the field, the main one (obviously) being visual recognition; but what is a researcher to do if the lighting isn't right? Or pictographs are badly faded and covered in lichen and moss? In most cases, undocumented rock art is discovered quite serendipitously as an archaeologist scans cliff faces and the walls of rockshelters. A lot of conditions have to be just right, however, for badly- faded pictographs to be recognized in the field. There is little doubt that even the most thorough archaeologist could be missing important images due to bad lighting, shadows, or poor visual acuity. This presentation highlights the dramatic results that can be accomplished by recognizing areas with a high probability for rock art, photographing potential panels, and applying pictograph enhancing software to bring even the most faded images back into the light of day. Specific examples are provided from a previously unrecorded pictograph site in the Channeled Scablands of Eastern Washington.
Bookmarks Related papers MentionsView impact
Uploads
Thesis Chapters by Lindsey M Evenson
The historical and archaeological contexts have been combined to create four cultural components of Chinese placer mining sites that should be evaluated during future archaeological investigations of potential Chinese sites: artifacts, oral traditions, structures, and placer mining features. The combination of two or more of the abovementioned components located within the northeastern Washington State historic Chinese placer mining context is indicative of a Chinese placer mining site, camp, or other operational feature. It is recommended that future archaeological investigation be conducted for the sites identified within this project, with special attention given to the assessment of the four Chinese placer mining cultural components described, in order to determine their potential Chinese affiliations.
Conference Presentations by Lindsey M Evenson
The historical and archaeological contexts have been combined to create four cultural components of Chinese placer mining sites that should be evaluated during future archaeological investigations of potential Chinese sites: artifacts, oral traditions, structures, and placer mining features. The combination of two or more of the abovementioned components located within the northeastern Washington State historic Chinese placer mining context is indicative of a Chinese placer mining site, camp, or other operational feature. It is recommended that future archaeological investigation be conducted for the sites identified within this project, with special attention given to the assessment of the four Chinese placer mining cultural components described, in order to determine their potential Chinese affiliations.