Archaeology of Singapore
Archaeology of Singapore is a rather specialised field, with a general lack of government support for archaeology works, many artifacts have been unearth at various locations around the island. Most artifacts are used to determine Singapore’s early history and colonial settlement.
Sites[edit]
The first ever archaeological site in Singapore was located in Fort Canning Hill. On January 1984, the first excavations were dug by John N. Miksic under the auspices of the National Museum of Singapore and the Parks and Recreation Department (now the National Parks Board/NParks) with financial assistance from Royal Dutch Shell Petroleum.[1] From that day on there have been excavations at these locations:
- Fort Canning
- Fort Tanjong Katong
- Padang
- Istana Kampong Glam
- St. Andrew’s Cathedral
- Colombo Court
- Duxton Hill
- Empress Place
- Old Parliament House
- Parliament House
- Asian Civilisations Mueseum
Findings[edit]
Excavations at Fort Canning revealed a palace was built in the 14th Century. During the construction of a new wing in the Asian Civilisations Museum in 1994 revealed pottery pieces that belonged to the port in the 14th Century.[2]
There were so many artifacts uncovered at the Padang that both the work period and the size of the test pit were lengthened. The artifacts include indigenous earthenware, Chinese trade ceramics, and coins from the Tang, Song and Jin dynasties.[3]
Storage[edit]
Storing these artifacts in Singapore is a huge challenge due to there no being any official support of the work, some artifacts may be stored in houses offices or even community clubs such as Mountbatten Community Club which stored artifacts from the Fort Tanjong Katong site.
A lot of them can also be found in the Asian Civilisation