Why go
Wong Tei Tung, Lantau and Lamma broaden the story beyond nineteenth-century settlement. Archaeology reveals toolmaking, fishing and changing patterns of habitation, while uncertainties remain about dates and the meaning of some structures. This perspective is useful when the city’s towers seem to obscure the depth of its coastal history.
The full story
At Wong Tei Tung near Three Fathoms Cove on the Sai Kung Peninsula, stone artefacts have been interpreted as evidence of very early toolmaking. The surrounding landscape may once have been a river valley. Such interpretations connect archaeological finds with a coastline that has changed over time. Later Neolithic communities left pottery and worked stone at sites including Tung Wan and Sha Tau Kok. Settlements are also known on Cheung Chau, Lantau and Lamma, while evidence of fire use was found at Chung Hom Kok. Patterns in pottery and tools help archaeologists distinguish periods, though not every find has a firm date. Stone circles at Fan Lau have prompted theories about ritual use, but their purpose remains uncertain. Bronze fishing, fighting and ceremonial implements from Lantau and Lamma reveal further changes in technology. Together these finds suggest varied coastal societies whose complexity cannot be captured by dismissive descriptions in later historical texts.