ENG-1998 — Page 500

HISTORY

400

settlers into the region and exerted a variety of influences on the indigenous populations. Testimony to this is the excavations 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 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 Island and Tung Wan Tsai on Ma Wan Island all yielded considerable quantities of Han Dynasty finds in well-stratified sequences. These included pottery vessels of various kinds and iron implements. 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 in Hong Kong during the Tang Dynasty (618-907 AD) through a study of the dome-shaped lime kilns which are an almost ubiquitous feature 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.

Recent studies are beginning to shed fresh light on events in Hong Kong during the Ming (1368-1644) and Qing (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 which found its way to the courts of South-East Asia and further west, and dates from the first few decades of the 16th century AD.

The excavation of the Qing period fort on Tung Lung Island has revealed fascinating details of the internal arrangements of the fortification and everyday utensils of a 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.

A Place from Which to Trade

In its early days, Hong Kong was regarded as an uninviting prospect for settlement. A population of about 3 650 was scattered over 20 villages and hamlets, and 2 000 fishermen lived on board their boats in the harbour. Its mountainous terrain deficient in fertile land and water, Hong Kong possessed only one natural asset a fine and sheltered anchorage. Largely the reason for the British presence, which began in the 1840s, Victoria Harbour was strategically located on the trade routes of the Far East, and was soon to become the hub of a burgeoning entrepôt trade with China.