RESEARCH SUMMERIES

4. JOHN N. MIKSIC, Department of History, National University of Singapore writes of his work on several projects during the past year:

The first is the on-going excavation of Fort Canning Hill, Singapore, a 14th century sites with Chinese and local ceramics, glassware, and metal. Further excavations were conducted during three weeks in April, 1992. No new categories of finds were added to the site's inventory this year, but new information about their relative frequency and spatial distribution was obtained. No new squares were opened; excavation concentrated on deepening an area of 5x6 meters exposed in 1991. Sterile soil has not yet been reached; I anticipate that a further short excavation next year may yield more information regarding the possibility of glass remelting for the purpose of making bangles on part of the site.

The second project was the initiation of a systematic sampling survey of the site of Trowulan, east Java. This activity was conducted as the inaugural session of the Indonesian Field School of Archaeology in June, 1991. Sponsorship was shared between the National Research Centre of Archaeology of Indonesia and the Food Foundation. Finds recorded were so numerous that the survey was unable to fulfill the objective set for it in terms of area to be covered. Further survey to establish the boundaries and architectural remains is planned for October-November, 1992.

The third activity was a survey of parts of the Riau Archipelago of Indonesia, in conjunction with the Suaka Purbakala Sumatera Barat dan Riau. A large number of sites were located on the islands of Bintan and Midai, most of them burials containing intact Chinese, Thai and Vietnamese ceramics of the 13th to 15th centuries. These sites seem to reflect customs somewhat similar to the contemporary burial complexes of the Philippines and South Sulawesi, in an area where no such sites had previously been reported. It is hoped to conduct further survey in 1993.