CaDHoKUHL project: fieldwork in Hong Kong’s mountains
During December 2023 researchers from the Centre for Landscape conducted fieldwork in the mountains of Hong Kong, as part of a landscape dating and characterisation project.
13 December 2023
CaDHoKUHL
A Centre for Landscape team comprising Mick Atha and Sam Turner, together with Tim Kinnaird of CERSA Luminescence at St Andrews, and Kennis Yip of The Archaeological Practice Ltd., has recently returned from a successful campaign of geoarchaeological fieldwork investigating cultivation terraces high in Hong Kong’s mountains.
The fieldwork, which forms part of Dr Mick Atha's European Commission-funded CaDHoKUHL*1 project, was conducted in collaboration with colleagues from the Hong Kong SAR government’s Antiquities and Monuments Office (AMO) and Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department (AFCD), which manages the country parks (protected areas), containing the terraces. The collaboration agreed with the AMO allowed the provision of logistical support and a number of experienced staff to assist with the fieldwork, while Mick Atha, Sam Turner, Tim Kinnaird and Kennis Yip provided hands-on training in geoarchaeological and geoscientific methods for the AMO’s junior curatorial staff. The team also gave a public lecture at the Hong Kong Heritage Discovery Centre and pre- and post-fieldwork briefings to AMO staff.
The next stage of the research will involve Dr Atha travelling to Tim Kinnaird’s laboratory at St Andrews to process the dating samples taken from the sampled terraces.