Bulletin Summer‧Autumn 1991

D igging into the Past Established in 1978’ the Centre f o r Chinese Archaeology and A rt was the brainchild o f Prof. T.C. Cheng, fo rme r pro-vice-chancellor o f the University; Prof. James Watt, fo rme r curator o f the A rt Gallery, and the late Mr. Lam Shou Chun, senior lecturer o f the Department o f History. The centre aims at pooling the resources o f the A r t Gallery and the Departments o f History and Fine Arts to lay a solid foundation f o r research into Chinese archaeology and art, and to promote scholarly exchange with similar institutions worldwide. Since its inception, the centre has engaged in the compilation o f data archives and the building up o f a computerized database o f publications in the field. Recently, the centre has shifted the emphasis of its activities to field archaeology, and a small fieldwork team headed by Mr. Tang Chung and Mr. Au Ka Fat has been formed and become very active in local excavations. F ie ld A rchaeology Activities The centre has for many years devoted its efforts to studying the prehistoric civilization o f Hong Kong and is presently the only local academic institution de­ dicated to the systematic excavation o f archaeologi­ cal sites in the territory. From 1987 to 1991, major excavations were carried out in the following sites : The Tungwan Site on Lantau Island In 1978, the field-work team started to excavate the Tungwan site on Lantau Island in collaboration with the University o f Tsukuba and Chiba Univer sity o f Japan, Zhongshan University and Shenzhen Museum o f China, and the Hong Kong Archaeological Society. Objects unearthed at the Tungwan Site ARCHAEOLOGY 13