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Medicine

These little vials once contained Chinese medicine. We found bottles for both Chinese and Euroamerican medicines at the laundry.

 

 

 

One of the artifacts was a bottle stuffed with preserved herbs and the remains of five crows. This bottle would have been filled with alcohol to make a type of traditional Chinese medicine used by the laundry workers.

 

 

 

Traditional Chinese medicine was very different from Euroamerican medicine in the 19th century. The artifacts tell us that the laundry workers tried Euroamerican medicine, but that they also liked to use familiar remedies from China.

 

 

What kind of medical problems and injuries might the Chinese immigrants have had from working in a laundry?

What evidence in your home could tell future archaeologists about your family’s health?

 

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