114
M. W. WELCH
surface of one side is uneven). It is very finely polished on one side and shows signs of polishing on the other. Whether it has been chipped by use or exposure I cannot tell. At any rate there are deep defects on the reverse side that were missed in polishing. The second item is a white quartz adze (the only one of this material found so far in Hong Kong). It is fashioned in much the same way as some of the adzes from sites I and II, but again its size is larger. It is lenticular in cross-section, but while one surface of it lies nearly flat, the other one is humped. The flat side is almost fully polished and there are very few deep flaws in it. The humped side is polished only on the highest point and the chipping towards the edges is quite noticeable, not unlike the chert adzes from the other two sites.
Site III is not as eroded and shot up as I and II. I found the quartz adze, as well as a second large chert axe, in a level hilltop depression, from which the soil had been washed off to a depth of nine inches (one steps down nine inches, that is, when entering it). Since they were embedded two inches, it seems to me that the people who last used them left them at a level about eleven inches below the level that the surface had before recent erosion began. I mention this because it is the only place that offers a comparison of levels and where the finds were still partly embedded in the soil.
Hong Kong and the surrounding territories are rich in archaeological sites. Only a few of them, I think, are known and a great many await the field work of the future. Little is known of South China man, much remains to be collated from the sites already found, and a great deal of work will have to be done before what has been done can be seen as a whole. All of us who like to sail or walk are given the possibility of helping in this field. By the mapping and careful reporting of finds, no matter how humble, we can share our discoveries with those who know what they are about and help provide the missing links that are necessary to complete the history of the culture of our area.
114
M. W. WELCH
surface of one side is uneven). It is very finely polished on one side and shows signs of polishing on the other. Whether it has been chipped by use or exposure I cannot tell. At any rate there are deep defects on the reverse side that were missed in polishing. The second item is a white quartz adze (the only one of this material found so far in Hong Kong). It is fashioned in much the same way as some of the adzes from sites I and II, but again its size is larger. It is lenticular in cross-section, but while one surface of it lies nearly flat, the other one is humped. The flat side is almost fully polished and there are very few deep flaws in it. The humped side is polished only on the highest point and the chipping towards the edges is quite notice- able, not unlike the chert adzes from the other two sites.
Site III is not as eroded and shot up as I and II. I found the quartz adze, as well as a second large chert axe, in a level hilltop depression, from which the soil had been washed off to a depth of nine inches (one steps down nine inches, that is, when entering it). Since they were embedded two inches, it seems to me that the people who last used them left them at a level about eleven inches below the level that the surface had before recent erosion began. I mention this because it is the only place that offers a comparison of levels and where the finds were still partly embedded in the soil.
Hong Kong and the surrounding territories are rich in archaeological sites. Only a few of them, I think, are known and a great many await the field work of the future. Little is known of South China man, much remains to be collated from the sites already found, and a great deal of work will have to be done before what has been done can be seen as a whole. All of us who like to sail or walk are given the possibility of helping in this field. By the mapping and careful reporting of finds, no matter how humble, we can share our discoveries with those who know what they are about and help provide the missing links that are necessary to complete the history of the culture of our area.
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