Identifying nineteenth century Trans-Pacific production and trade: A geochemical and stylistic study of Chinese opium pipe bowls from southern New Zealand

Abstract This paper reports on aspects of the production and trade of nineteenth century Chinese opium pipe bowls based on an examination of an assemblage from a Chinese goldfields settlement in New Zealand. Using energy dispersive X-ray fluorescence (EDXRF) and laser ablation inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (LA-ICP-MS) we characterised the clay sources used for pipe production. Comparing those results with a stylistic analysis of the pipe bowls we developed a model for the production of opium pipe bowls and their distribution to nineteenth century Chinese diaspora communities. This is the first study to investigate Chinese opium pipe bowls using a combination of geochemical and stylistic analysis and is a novel application of archaeological science methodologies in Overseas Chinese Archaeology. The work reveals information about a group of potters and their production structures in Southern China and their trading connections in the Trans-Pacific region that had previously been historically and archaeologically opaque.