Leisure and Cultural Services Department - Antiquties and Monuments Office

Late Neolithic Period (c.2500-1500B.C.)

In the late Neolithic period, the early settlers had extended their activities to almost every part of South China.

Sites discovered in Hong Kong include Yung Long in Tuen Mun, the headland at Sha Lo Wan on Lantau Island; Sham Wan on Lamma Island, and Tung Wan Tsai on Ma Wan Island, indicating that the Late Neolithic people no longer confined their activities to sandbars but had exploited a larger geographic area, such as headland slopes and hills. Larger settlement sites had also appeared.

The pottery of this period has impressed geometric patterns, which are typical of the South China region. The stone artefacts discovered are mainly tools and weapons indicating that the people of that time still lived on hunting and fishing. Moreover, a considerable number of decors such as stone rings and slotted rings, and ritual objects such as yue -axes and ge -halberts have been found, which implies the development of a more complex social structure. Neolithic settlers were probably living in stilted houses supported by wooden posts as a series of postholes were found at different archaeological sites.

A late Neolithic burial ground discovered at Tung Wan Tsai North on Ma Wan yielded human skeletal remains. Studies by physical anthropologists have confirmed that the Neolithic people on Ma Wan were closely linked to those Neolithic settlers of the Pearl River region in Guangdong, and they both were Asian Mongoloid.

Soft pottery pot with zig zag pattern
Late Neolithic period
Excavated from Yung Long, Tuen Mun
Height: 23cm Body diameter: 25cm

Soft pottery pot with concentric rings pattern
Late Neolithic period
Excavated from Yung Long, Tuen Mun
Height: 13.6cm Body diameter: 13.5cm

Soft pottery pot with ring-foot and leaf-vein design
Late Neolithic period
Excavated from Sha Lo Wan headland, Lantau Island
Height: 16cm Body diameter: 18.5 cm

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