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-ICPMS) 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.