Review of ‘Archaeology of the Chinese Fishing Industry in Colonial Victoria’ by Alister M Bowen
30th May 2015
‘Archaeology of the Chinese Fishing Industry in Colonial Victoria’ by Alister M Bowen. 2012. Studies in Australian Historical Archaeology 3. Australasian Society for Historical Archaeology, Sydney, xiv, 177 pp. ISBN 781920899813 (pbk).
Reviewed by Neville Ritchie
Department of Conservation, Private Bag 3072, Hamilton 3240, New Zealand <nritchie@doc.govt.nz>
Every so often a graduate student identifies a research topic and finds a great representative site from which considerable knowledge can be gained by the application of historical archaeology. This book, based on PhD research and now published in the Australasian Society for Historical Archaeology (ASHA) series, encapsulates the results of the all-butforgotten contribution of the Chinese fishing industry in eastern Victoria during the second half of the nineteenth century. The book is much more than just a story about catching and preserving fish; it is a revealing insight into many facets of traditional Chinese social and business structure and the way these developed in colonial Australia.
Prior to the 1860s, the development of the fishing industry in Australia was hampered by the problems posed by the transportation of fish to markets: during the 1850–1860s it was common for whole catches to putrefy before getting to market. The influx of Chinese gold miners, who regarded fish as a dietary staple, increased its demand and prompted the creation of many Chinese fish-curing establishments. As they were purchasing large quantities of fish, the Chinese created a new and reliable market for European fishermen. The fish-curers supplied their compatriots in Melbourne and on the goldfields with both fresh and cured fish. They made sums of money far greater than any contemporary European fishing operation and for many years created hundreds of jobs for both Chinese and Europeans in the fishing industry.
Archaeology of the Chinese Fishing Industry in Colonial Victoria is a fascinating story through which Bowen ably demonstrates the major role that Chinese migrants played in the southeast Australia fishing industry for nearly three decades (late 1850s–1870s). Fundamental to their dominance was the use of long established traditional methodologies (such as salting and pickling) to overcome the problems of preservation and transportation prior to the availability of ice-cooling and refrigeration. The story also highlights how the Chinese fish-curers lived, worked and interacted in colonial society and why they seemingly disappeared from Australian history, both literally and figuratively. They did not disappear without trace, however, as Bowen cogently demonstrates through his research based on sparse documentary evidence, archaeological surveys and his detailed investigation of the Chinaman’s Point site (the best preserved of the remaining Chinese fish-curing sites).
The monograph begins with a succinct review of theoretical perspectives and an outline of previous relevant archaeological and historical research in Australia. Chapter 2 traces the history of commercial fishing in Australia and gradually focuses in on Victoria and coastal Gippsland in particular. Chapter 3 examines China’s nineteenth century fishing industry and the importance of fish in the Chinese diet. The following chapter is a thorough examination of the documentary evidence about Chinese fish-curing in colonial Australia and the Chinese involvement in commercial fishing. This reveals a far greater level of participation than previously realised and puts to bed the notion that Chinese fish-curers were ‘down on their luck’ ex-gold miners. On the contrary, Chinese fish-curing was an established practise in Australia nearly a decade before the Victoria gold-rush era, and involved a complex interrelationship between entrepreneurial Chinese merchants and those working for them.
Chapters 5 and 6 outline the field methodology and results of the survey and excavation of the Chinaman’s Point site. Comparative analysis (including extensive recourse to American and New Zealand literature and assemblages) indicates that the Chinaman’s Point site assemblage represents a fairly typical colonial period Chinese site. The industrial artefacts and structural remains confirm that it was a fish-curing establishment and the site’s occupants caught the fish themselves. The author has made special effort to verify hypotheses about the use or role of artefacts found in overseas Chinese sites which are often taken for granted, on occasion offering alternative explanations. The detailed analysis and interpretation of the recovered materials and remains of structures is particularly informative about the means and operations of the Chinese fish-curers at Chinaman’s Point and their wider interactions with both Chinese communities and Europeans.
Chapter 7 continues to focus on the site by dating as accurately as possible the occupation period at Chinaman’s Point, while the second half of this chapter discusses the more significant information gleaned from the artefact analysis. The final chapter brings together the evidence from all avenues of the inquiry. The conclusions confirm the significant contribution this published volume makes to developing an informed viewpoint about the Chinese experience in colonial Australia, especially regarding their massive contribution to Victoria’s fishing industry during the mid- to late nineteenth century.
This highly readable, well-illustrated monograph provides access to the knowledge gained from a very good PhD project. It elucidates a forgotten or missing chapter in the overall history of Chinese settlement in Australia (there are other missing chapters too), and highlights the significant role a small specialised sector of the nineteenth century Chinese migrants (the fish curers) played in the development of the Victorian fishing industry.
Ritchie, N.Review of ‘Archaeology of the Chinese Fishing Industry in Colonial Victoria’ by Alister M Bowen
June 204
78
123-124
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