1. Introduction

The accidental discovery of worked stone pieces on a narrow beach near Wong Tei Tung, at Kei Ling Ha Loi (Three Fathoms Cove) in eastern Sai Kung in 2003, was reported in the South China Post on 15 January 2006 (Fig. 2: newspaper article). Professor Zhang Zhenhong of the anthropology department of Zhongshan University authenticated the finds as primitive prehistoric stone tools never before found in the southern coastal areas of China. Optical-luminescence dating confirmed a date between 35,000 and 39,000 years for the site. Previously, the oldest prehistoric remains from Hong Kong dated only to 6000 years. Gao Xing, deputy director of the Institute of Vertebrate Palaeontology and Palaeoanthropology in Beijing has suggested that no similar artefacts have been previously discovered in the region. The site was excavated by a team of nine archaeologists from Hong Kong, Macau and Mainland China, supported by a grant from the Hong Kong Government's Antiquities and Monuments Office. It was reported (Hong Kong Archaeological Society 2005) that the lithic workshop or stone tool factory site is approximately 100m wide and extends 400m uphill from the beach. Pieces of worked stone occur on the beach and below sea level. Permission to visit and sample the site in 2006 and 2007 was obtained from Dr Ng of the Hong Kong Archaeological Society. Fearing vandalism, Dr Ng does not wish to publish the exact location of the site; nothing in the present article adds to the site details not previously published by the Hong Kong Archaeological Society.

Figure 2: Newspaper article

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