Historical Background

CIE's activities in China have been concentrated thus far in and around Hong Kong. Hong Kong has a long maritime history and still possesses many cultural heritage remains both on land and underwater. For millennia this area has been a trading hub, linked to its proximity to the Silk Road and the ceramic trading route along the Pearl River, leading to it becoming one of the worlds busiest ports in modern times. 

 

Archaeological excavations have shown that there have been people living around the coastline of the Hong Kong islands, exploiting the marine resources in the area for around 6,000 years. Chinese ships soon became involved in more internationally-oriented trade along the Silk Route from the 3rd Century BC. 

 

There is great potential for archaeological discoveries in the area, particularly to enlighten us about the earliest history of Hong Kong and its early development as a trading centre. However, so far, very little has been discovered despite a bumber of investigations alongside the coastline. The earliest shipwreck discovered thus far dates to the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644), located within the High Island Reservoir. Excavations at Penny's Bay also revealed over 10,000 ceramics dating predominantly to the Ming Dynasty also, but offshore ceramics have also yielded dates as far back as the Song Dynasty (960-1279). 

 

From the seventh century AD, large numbers of Arabian, Persian and Indian traders were regularly sailing into the port of Guangzhou to trade. The ports of Hong Kong rapidly expanded at this time, off the back of the booming trade in Chinese silks, ceramics and tea. These commodities are still sought after and are foci in international trade to this day. Hong Kong's trading legacy has continued, and it has further expanded as an important shipping location, one of the top five busiest ports in the world. CIE's activities with Hong Kong mainly focus around maritime and underwater cultural heritage, which come under our core themes of:

 Heritage Awareness

Research and Academic Cooperation.