EXCAVATIONS AT MAN KOK TSUI
105
running east to west watered by a small spring-fed stream, and is protected by rocky promontories and steep hillsides. The beaches are raised beaches. That is: behind the present-day beaches there are raised sandy terraces marking an old sea level. This geological feature is common on the western side of the Colony and is typical of the beaches where Neolithic remains have been found. At Man Kok Tsui the numerous surface finds of impressed pottery sherds and stone artifacts were widely dispersed over the two raised terraces, the central valley and the surrounding hill slopes. In August 1958 the Team planned and carried out a series of excavations with the aid of a grant of money from the Government of Hong Kong. The technical details of the Team's work have been reported in a paper by Professor S. G. Davis and Miss Mary Tregear.
The central valley and some of the lower hill slopes at Man Kok Tsui were then under cultivation and therefore finds in these areas had to be regarded as surface finds, giving us no useful information apart from the quantity and the quality of their workmanship. When trial trenches were dug some of the uncultivated hilltops revealed evidence of earlier cultivation, although there was no official record of habitation at Man Kok Tsui before 1927. Again, such disturbance meant that finds from these trenches were to be considered as surface finds. A more hopeful spot was found after careful survey—a series of low hillslopes rising fairly steeply from the sea to the north of the stream mouth. The present villagers had been cutting into the hills to expand their vegetable fields and discovered several whole pots and some fine unbroken stone rings. It was here that the five main trenches were planned and dug. No traces of earlier cultivation or disturbance were noted and the majority of the finds were uncovered at a depth of between 2 and 3 feet. But there was no stratification observable in any of the trench sections, no animal or human remains were found and no definite plan or arrangement of pots or stone artifacts emerged from the excavations.
THE FINDS:
There were three categories of artifact uncovered at Man Kok Tsui: bronze, stone and pottery.
EXCAVATIONS AT MAN KOK TSUI
105
running east to west watered by a small spring-fed stream, and is protected by rocky promontories and steep hillsides. The beaches are raised beaches. That is: behind the present-day beaches there are raised sandy terraces marking an old sea level. This geological feature is common on the western side of the Colony and is typical of the beaches where Neolithic remains have been found. At Man Kok Tsui the numerous surface finds of impressed pottery sherds and stone artifacts were widely dispersed over the two raised terraces, the central valley and the surrounding hill slopes. In August 1958 the Team planned and carried out a series of excavations with the aid of a grant of money from the Government of Hong Kong. The technical details of the Team's work have been reported in a paper by Professor S. G. Davis and Miss Mary Tregear."
The central valley and some of the lower hill slopes at Man Kok Tsui were then under cultivation and therefore finds in these areas had to be regarded as surface finds, giving us no useful information apart from the quantity and the quality of their workmanship. When trial trenches were dug some of the uncultivated hilltops revealed evidence of earlier cultivation, although there was no official record of habitation at Man Kok Tsui before 1927. Again, such disturbance meant that finds from these trenches were to be considered as surface finds. A more hopeful spot was found after careful survey-a series of low hillslopes rising fairly steeply from the sea to the north of the stream mouth. The present villagers had been cutting into the hills to expand their vegetable fields and discovered several whole pots and some fine unbroken stone rings. It was here that the five main trenches were planned and dug. No traces of earlier cultivation or disturbance were noted and the majority of the finds were uncovered at a depth of between 2 and 3 feet. But there was no stratification observable in any of the trench sections, no animal or human remains were found and no definite plan or arrangement of pots or stone artifacts emerged from the excavations.
THE FINDS: -
There were three categories of artifact uncovered at Man Kok Tsui: bronze, stone and pottery.
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