Bulletin Summer‧Autumn 1991

Objects unearthed at the Daiwan Site on Lamma Island Lantau Island Northern Developing Area Earlier this year, commissioned by the govern ment, the centre started excavation activities in the northern part o f Lantau Island before construction work begins for the new airport at Chek Lap Kok and the Lantau Fixed Crossing. The mission is ex pected to last 13 months and be completed Ap ril 1992. Large quantities o f relics belonging to the Neolithic Age, and the Tang, Song and Yuan dynasties have already been discovered at various spots in the area, most o f them belonging to the Tang Dynasty, indi­ cating that at least a few thousand people lived on the island at that time. This has never been recorded in any written history. O the r Activities In addition to conducting excavations, the centre holds seminars and conferences from time to time to exchange information and experience with its counterparts in other parts o f the world. Recent activities include a conference entitled 'International Conference o f Prehistory in the South China Sea Area' jo in tly organized with Zhongshan University and the Shenzhen Museum on 28th and 29th June. More than 20 scholars from Hong Kong, Japan, Canada and the southeast provinces o f China attended. A monograph ‘Archaeological Finds from the Pearl Delta in Guangdong, China' was also launched to commemorate the occasion. F u tu r e Projects The centre w ill continue to strengthen its field excavation activities. Besides studying the materials gathered, reports w ill be published and new projects w ill be launched. Education programmes w ill also be organized to propagate archaeological knowledge locally. Recent plans include: Decoding the Past —Introduction to Hong Kong The centre w ill hold a join t exhibition entitled 'Decoding the Past — Introduction to Hong Kong' with the San Tung Uk Museum in Tsuen Wan. The exhibi­ tion w ill introduce the basic concepts of archaeology, the origins o f the people in Hong Kong, and local archaeological discoveries in recent years. It w ill be launched in San Tung Uk in November and w ill tour various secondary schools afterwards. The Study o f Palaeolithic Cultures 12,000 Years Old The centre has obtained the permission o f the Adm inistrative Bureau o f Museums and Archae­ ological Materials of China to engage in the study of Palaeolithic cultures 12,000 years old in conjunction with the Archaeology Institute o f Shanxi. The Bei Shan Tang Foundation Ltd. has agreed to sponsor the travelling expenses o f one researcher to Shanxi Province for this project in October and November 1991. Publication o f Archaeological Findings The fou r major excavations carried out in Tungwan, Lung Kwu Tan, Daiwan and Lantau Island (Northern Developing Area) have resulted in the discovery of valuable cultural relics and other archae ological materials. Details of the various findings w ill in due course be published by the centre in the form of reports and monographs. □ A R C H A E O L O G Y 15