Domestic Space Structure and Abandonment Behavior: The Ye Family Complex at Baomei, Tong An District (Fujian, P.R. China)

Anthropological archaeology strives to recover, understand and explain past social dynamics. It relies on the uncovered material record to highlight past behavior patterns. For such a research agenda to be successful, one needs to fully understand all aspects of the processes involved in the formation of the archaeological record. It is undisputed that “Abandonment” is the condition _sine qua none_ for the formation of archaeological sites. Fieldwork conducted at the Ye Family high ranking Qing Dynasty office-holder housing complex, outlines the “use-history” of the investigated architectural complex and its adjustment to China recent contemporary history. The housing complex shifted from an initial prestigious imperial office-holder family to a “commune” housing for disadvantaged families during the cultural revolution, to be finally either progressively abandoned and/or re-cycled as storage complex. Combining informant input and field archaeology methodologies, the study of an abandoned elite traditional vernacular house provides the opportunity to decipher abandonment processes and contribute to the theoretical agenda of anthropological archaeology.