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Archaeological studies in Hong Kong began in the 1920s and have uncovered
evidence of ancient human activities at many sites along the winding shoreline,
testifying to events spanning more than 6 000 years. The interpretation
of these events is still a matter of academic discussion. Archaeologically,
Hong Kong is but a tiny part of the far greater cultural sphere of South
China, itself as yet imperfectly known.
Despite suggestions that local prehistoric cultures
developed out of incursions from North China or South-East Asia, a growing
number of scholars believe that the prehistoric cultures within the South
China region evolved locally, independent of any major outside influences.
There is little dispute, on the other hand, that these earliest periods,
from 4000 BC, must be seen within the framework of a changing environment
in which sea levels rose from depths of 100 metres below the present —
inexorably submerging vast tracts of coastal plain and establishing a
basically modern shoreline and ecology to which human groups had to adapt
if they were not to perish.
The stone tools, pottery and other artefacts relied
on for an insight into the lives of Hong Kong's ancient inhabitants are
for the most part preserved in coastal deposits. This pattern of coastal
settlement points to a strong maritime orientation and an economy geared
to the exploitation of marine resources. However, it would be unwise to
over-emphasise this point, since the discovery of archaeological remains
is influenced by many factors governing their survival. For example, the
erosion of the hilly terrain has been severe and evidence of inland settlement
is scanty, though not totally absent.
Recent excavations have revealed two main Neolithic
cultures lying in stratified sequence. Coarse, cord-marked pottery has
been found at the lower, older level together with a fine, soft, fragile
pottery decorated with incised lines, perforations and occasionally painted.
Chipped and polished stone tools are also present. Current indications
suggest a fourth millennium BC date for this initial phase.
Cord-marked pottery and chipped stone tools continue
into the higher, later levels, in which appears a new ceramic form decorated
with a range of impressed geometric patterns. In this phase, beginning
in the mid-third millennium BC, polished stone tools show better workmanship
and a proliferation of forms, some with steps and shoulders - features
probably connected with improvements in hafting techniques. Ornaments
such as rings, some slotted, were also made from quartz and other suitable
stones. These adornments came in a range of sizes, sometimes displaying
exquisite craftsmanship.
The final phase of Hong Kong's prehistory was marked
by the appearance of bronze about the middle of the second millennium
BC. Bronze artefacts seem not to have been in common use, but fine specimens
of weapons, knives, arrowheads and halberds, and tools such as fish hooks
and socketed axes have been excavated from Hong Kong sites. There is evidence,
too, in the form of stone moulds from Kwo Lo Wan on the original Chek
Lap Kok Island, Tung Wan and Sha Lo Wan on Lantau Island and Tai Wan and
Sha Po Tsuen on Lamma Island, that the metal was actually worked locally.
The pottery of the Bronze Age comprises a continuation
of the earlier cord-impressed and geometric traditions and a new type
of ware, fired at a much higher temperature leading to vitrification.
This so-called hard geometric ware is decorated with designs, many of
which are reminiscent of the geometric patterns of the late Neolithic
period, but with their own distinctive style, including the 'Kui-dragon'
or 'double F' pattern so characteristic of the region during this period.
Archaeology is silent on such questions as the ethnic
and linguistic affinities of the ancient peoples. However, early Chinese
literary records make references to maritime people known as 'Yue' occupying
China's south-eastern seaboard. It is probable, therefore, that at least
some of Hong Kong's prehistoric inhabitants belonged to the 'Hundred Yue',
as this diverse group of peoples was often called.
The discovery of a prehistoric burial ground at Tung
Wan Tsai North on Ma Wan Island in 1997 shed light on the ethnicity of
prehistoric inhabitants in Hong Kong. Among the 20 burials discovered,
15 yielded human skeletal remains, seven of which were well preserved.
Study of the human bones revealed that these early inhabitants were Asian
Mongoloid with characteristics of a tropical racial group.
A Neolithic stone-working site discovered at Ho Chung,
in Sai Kung, in 1999 was also of significance. Scattered around an activity
floor, which covered about 200 square metres, were a number of stone cores,
flakes, chipped stone tools such as oyster picks, carving tools and polished
implements that included adzes, rings and slotted rings. The artefacts
provide valuable data for the study of the stone-working technology of
Hong Kong's Neolithic inhabitants.
To save the archaeological heritage from destruction
by impending road construction, a joint local and Mainland team carried
out a rescue excavation in Sha Ha, also in Sai Kung, between October 2001
and September 2002. This team, comprising experts from the archaeological
institutes of Shaanxi, Hebei, Henan and Guangzhou as well as the Antiquities
and Monuments Office, was the largest ever mobilised in Hong Kong. Important
discoveries included artefacts and archaeological features of the Neolithic
Period and the Bronze Age as well as the Tang/Song and Ming/Qing dynasties.
These findings not only helped to portray the chronology of the local
archaeological cultures, but also provided important clues to trace the
prehistoric society and settlement patterns of the Pearl River Delta.
Interesting archaeological features, almost certainly
made by those people, include the rock carvings, most of which are geometric
in style, at Shek Pik on Lantau Island, on Kau Sai Chau, Po Toi, Cheung
Chau and Tung Lung Chau; and at Big Wave Bay and Wong Chuk Hang on Hong
Kong Island.
The military conquest of South China by the North
during the Qin (221-207 BC) and Han (206 BC-AD 220) dynasties must have
brought increasing numbers of Han settlers into the region and exerted
a variety of influences on the indigenous populations. Testimony to this
is the excavation of coins of the Han period but the outstanding monument
to this turbulent period must undoubtedly be the fine brick-built tomb
uncovered at Lei Cheng Uk, in Sham Shui Po, in 1955 with its array of
typical Han tomb furniture, dateable from the early to middle Eastern
Han period. Recent rescue excavations at Pak Mong on Lantau Island, on
Kau Sai Chau, at Tung Wan Tsai on Ma Wan Island and at So Kwun Wat in
Tuen Mun all yielded considerable quantities of Han Dynasty artefacts
in well-stratified sequences. These included pottery vessels of various
kinds, iron implements and a large quantity of bronze cash coins. They
provide important clues to understanding the daily life and activities
of the local people of that period.
Archaeological remains from later historic periods
are still relatively rare. Recent work has thrown a welcome light on one
aspect of life locally during the Tang Dynasty (AD 618-907) through a
study of the dome-shaped lime kilns which are almost ubiquitous features
of Hong Kong's beaches. Lime was a valuable commodity useful for caulking
and protecting wooden boats against marine organisms, water-proofing containers,
dressing the acid soils of agricultural fields, building, and salt production
among other purposes. It clearly played an important role in the economy
of the period. Strong traditions link Hong Kong with the events surrounding
the Mongol incursions and the concluding chapters of the Song Dynasty
in the 13th century AD. Several local finds are from this period: the
Sung Wong Toi inscription, now relocated near the entrance to the former
Hong Kong International Airport in Kowloon; the Song inscription in the
grounds of the Tin Hau Temple at Joss House Bay; caches of Song coins
from Shek Pik, Mai Po and Kellett Island; and celadons of Song type from
various sites, especially Nim Shue Wan and Shek Pik on Lantau Island and
Queen's Hill in Fanling.
Recent studies are beginning to shed fresh light on
events in Hong Kong during the Ming (AD 1368-1644) and Qing (AD 1644-1911)
dynasties. These include an analysis of considerable quantities of Ming
blue-and-white porcelain collected and excavated from Penny's Bay, Lantau.
It is very fine quality export ware of the kind that found its way to
the courts of South-East Asia and further west, and dates from the first
decades of the 16th century AD During another excavation in 2001, more
Ming remains were retrieved, including building foundations and structures
suggesting the presence of a Ming settlement in Penny's Bay. Archaeological
investigations at the ancient kiln site at Wun Yiu in Tai Po suggested
that potters probably began to manufacture blue-and-white wares locally
early in the Ming Dynasty. The porcelain industry continued until the
early 20th century, spanning a period of 500 years. The rescue excavation
at So Kwun Wat in 2000 yielded a Ming Dynasty cemetery and more than 30
burials were found. The burial items — which include porcelain wares,
bronze coins and iron implements — shed light on the life of local
inhabitants in the Ming Dynasty.
The excavation of the Qing Dynasty fort on Tung Lung
Chau has revealed fascinating details of the internal arrangements of
the fortification and everyday utensils of the remote garrison during
the final stages of Imperial China. Recent investigations at the Kowloon
Walled City site also uncovered remnants of the old garrison wall and
the two stone plaques above the original South Gate, which bore the Chinese
characters 'South Gate' and 'Kowloon Garrison City', respectively. |
