ENG-1955 — Page 236

ARCHAEOLOGY

185

"The pottery is all of the funerary type (ming ch’i) found in tombs of the Han and Six Dynasties. The designs on the edges of the bricks are mostly geometrical, and a few present stylized outlines of fishes, and some of dragons, again reminiscent of the Han and Six Dynasties. Among the bronze objects, a Han dynasty mirror is important for purposes of dating. Two short inscriptions, represented several times in the designs on the bricks, include reference to Punyü, the district in which Canton is situated, and a term which once included this particular region. The style of writing is li-shu, prevalent in the Han and Six Dynasties, but more accurate dating by means of style can only be deter- mined after careful comparison with extant inscriptions of these periods.

"One of the principal problems is that no signs of human remains or of a coffin were found. It is true that the excessive dampness of the soil, and the fact that the tomb may for long periods have been full of water, would have been sufficient to cause bones or wood to disintegrate entirely; but one might have expected to find teeth, or, if the burial was of the Han dynasty, jade amulets and metal belt-hooks. Another possibility is that the tomb was a cenotaph, perhaps of a military officer whose body could not be recovered from the battlefield.

"In any event, the tomb is an important discovery. Detailed study of it and its contents is now taking place in the University, and until these studies are completed it would be unwise to draw more precise conclusions about its date and purpose."

The probability, however, that it is at least as old as the Later Han (A.D.25-220) or Six Dynasties (220-589) is of great interest and throws a new hight on what is at present known of local history.

Prior to permanent Chinese settlement in this area, which is continuous from about the year 1100, it is known that there was at least one earlier period of settlement (on the island of Tung Lung and in the neighbourhood of Joss-House Bay), evidence of which survives in the inscription on a stone situated behind the Tai Miu on the shores of Joss-House Bay. The tomb at Li Cheng Uk suggests that there may have