4,000 year-old settlement in HK unearthed

The Age
December 22, 2003

One of the most comprehensive human settlements dating back more than 4,000 years has been discovered by archaeologists in Hong Kong.

Stone tools, pottery and graves have been found in a beachfront area at Sha Ha, north of Sai Kung in Hong Kong's eastern New Territories, the South China Morning Post reported today. Antiquities and Monuments Office curator Kevin Sun said it was the most comprehensive settlement ever excavated in Hong Kong.

The 3,000-square-metre site was divided into four areas where archaeological teams from Shaanxi, Hebei, Henan and Guangdong provinces in China, unearthed artifacts dating back from 478 AD to 2500 BC. Quan Hong, deputy director of the Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology in Guangzhou, said his group had uncovered nine graves containing pots and stone tools, although there were no skeletons.