Perimortem Injury in a Chinese American Cemetery: Two Cases of Occupational Hazard or Interpersonal Violence

This study’s aim is to elucidate questions of bioarchaeological importance by highlighting an ethnic group whom helped shape the modern American West. This investigation concerns traumatic injury sustained by two Chinese Americans who died during the late 19th or early 20th centuries in northern Nevada, U.S. There has been little attention given to the “Overseas” Chinese, in either historical or archaeological contexts. The designation “Overseas” is given to those individuals who emigrated from mainland China starting in the 1800s to places around the world. Here, two individuals are described in terms of traumatic, perimortem injury, and other findings of pathological interest. These two individuals would have died from their sustained injuries. Of central importance to this study is to first emphasize the dangerous occupation that many Chinese undertook, such as mining activity or railroad construction. Second, not knowing the exact nature surrounding their deaths, this study investigates possible inter-personal violence that often resulted from antagonistic factions between either the Chinese themselves, or between the Chinese and other immigrants competing for high risk, but lucrative jobs scattered throughout the western United States.