6. PAMELA RUMBALL ROGERS, Centre of Asian Studies, University of Hong Kong, Pokfulam Road, Hong Kong.
My team and I have been working since early this year at the sites of Tung Wan Tsai, a beach site on Ma Wan, a small island off the northeast tip of Lantau Island, to the west of Hong Kong. The site lies on a raise beach at the foot of a small hill which in Neolithic times would have been an off-shore island, linked to the rest of Ma Wan by mudflats and mangroves. The first phase of the excavation was occupied with the study of a large compacted activity surface. Incorporated into this surface were postholes, pits and a drainage ditch; material pressed into its surface included pottery, stone artifacts, iron objects and fragments, shells and coins dating from the Han period (206 B.C.-220 A.D.). Seaward from the surface lies a large area of refuse dump: enormous numbers of shells, coral, sherds, fish, bird and small mammal, bones, seeds, iron and bronze fragments and another Han coin. Test pits dug to the north of the main excavation area show that both the surface and the midden continue along the beach site.
Initial analysis of the pottery found at this level has shown that the site has evidence of a range of fabric and forms, from coarse to finer wares decorated with stamped designs or glazes. These ceramic finds provide much new data on Han pottery in South China in general and Hong Kong in particular. The deposit at Yung Wan Tsai is valuable because material of this period is rarely found in Hong Kong and river in such quantity and associated so clearly with features and stratigraphy. The deposit of shells and other refuse is also a valuable first for Hong Kong. Although such midden deposits regularly occur on sites further up the Pearl River estuary, none has previously been found this far south. The area covered with refuse was carefully recorded on the basis of a 1m grid layed out over the surface. The detailed sampling method allowed us to retrieve maximum data concerning the contents and their distribution.
The second phase of the project, now underway, is concentrating on the sand bar deposits underlying the Han levels. The bar contains numerous layers and clusters of shells and associated artifacts, including ceramics, stone and shell implements and bronze. The deposits seems to represent the transitional period from Bronze Age to early historic, a period under-documented in the Hong Kong area. Two assemblages of particular interest have appeared in the lower levels of the sand bar. Firstly, a group of oval beach pebbles was found, some chipped and some selected for their naturally notched shape. Several show signs of chipping, and nearby were found 2 chipped and notched stone anchors and several stone-working tools. The second assemblage of interest was found at the rear of the sand bar. It consisted of a complete jug with some of its contents in situ, a set of four jadeite slit rings in graded sizes and more than 200 shell beads scattered over the area.
The second phase of fieldwork continues until mid-November, and publication of the results of the project by the Antiquities and Monuments Office, on whose behalf the project has been undertaken, will follow.
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