Appendix H Augering and Test Pit Excavation Result

Augering Result

Augering Hole (AH) 09

AH09 located at the south platform of Bui O Public School, the ground level of AH09 is 6.41 mPD and Table 1 shows the soil profile of AH09

Table H-1 Soil Profile of AH09

Layer	Soil description	Depth(cm)
1	topsoil, light grey fine sand	0-30
2	brown fine sand	31-50
3	yellowish brown fine sand	51-120
4	pale yellow fine sand with pumice-like materials	121-220
5	light grey fine sand, some shell fragments were identified	221-260

Pumice-like material was identified in Layer 4 which indicates that ancient cultural layer may exist.

AH23

AH23 is located at north of the playground at the inner raised beach at Pui O beside Chi Ma Wan Road. The ground level of AH23 is 6.9 mPD.

Table H-2 Soil Profile of AH23

Layer	Soil description	Depth(cm)
1	filled soil	0-40
2	grey fine sand	41-60
3	light yellow fine sand	61-200
4	brown fine sand mixed with pumice-like materials	210-240
5	light brown fine sand	240-265

The soil profile of AH23 is similar to AH09 and pumice-like material was also identified in the brown fine sand layer (Layer 4) which is an indicator of ancient cultural layer.

AH13

AH13 is located at the coastal area of southern Ham Tin valley, it is located next to Chi Ma Wan Road and the ground level of AH13 is 4.9 mPD.

Table H-3 Soil Profile of AH13

Layer	Soil description	Depth (cm)
1	filled soil	0-15
2	brown fine sand	16-70
3	dark grey fine sand mixed with shell fragments	71-90
4	light yellow fine sand	91-160
5	pale yellow fine sand mixed with shell fragments	161-252

The dark grey fine sand layer in layer 3 may be a cultural layer.

AH20

AH20 is located beside the footpath near the coastline at Ham Tin valley. The ground level of AH20 is 4.4 mPD.

Table H-4 Soil Profile of AH20

Layer	Soil Description	Depth (cm)
1	topsoil, grey fine sand	0-20
2	light yellow fine sand	21-90
3	light brown coarse sand mixed with shell fragments	91-200
4	grey coarse sand (water table appeared)	201-218

The soil profile in Layer 3 and 4 are recent beach or stream deposit, no archaeological potential along the footpath is expected.

Test Pit Result

TP1 - Description

Inner (raised) beaches are the landform of high archaeological potential in Hong Kong. TP1 is located next to Chi Ma Wan Road at the inner raised beach of Pui O. It is located 30 m to the north east of Grid B excavated by Hong Kong Archaeological Society in 1983 (see Figure 7.6). Table 5 shows the context data of TP1 and the photographic record and the section drawing of TP1 is shown in Figure A and B.

Table H-5 TP 1 Context Data

Contexts	Level (mPD)	Soil Description	Remarks
1	6.41 to 6.21	light grey sandy soil	filled fine sand
2	6.30 to 6.21	light brownish sandy soil	hard floor
3	6.22 to 6.00	grey sandy soil
4	5.99 to 4.80	light yellow brown fine sand	a brass button date to Qing dynasty (1644-1911) identified
5	4.79 to 4.18	dark brown fine sand	date to Tang dynasty (AD 618-907)
6	4.17 to 4.10	brown fine sand	date to Tang dynasty (AD 618-907)
7	4.09 to 4.00	brown fine sand mixed with pumice-like materials, shell and coral.	date to Tang dynasty (AD 618-907)
8	3.99 to 3.50	yellow fine sand mixed shell fragments	watertable at the bottom of this context
9	3.49 to 2.10	light yellow fine sand	Augering start at ?? mPD? (AH??)
10	2.09 to 2.05	grey fine sand mixed with shell fragments	augering hole
11	2.04 to 1.65	grey coarse sand mixed with shell fragments	augering hole

Reference from previous excavation result in 1983 was made for dating C5 - C7 of this test pit and they are described as follows:

C5 - 2 to 3 burials and in bowls and jars were identified in similar dark brown fine sand layer, “black layer”, during the excavation in 1983. With reference to the typology, glaze colour and production technology employed and the southeast China area, these artifacts dated to Tang dynasty; therefore, C5 is also defined as the Tang dynasty layer.

C6 - 2 lime kilns features and a slaking pit associated with pumice (or pumice-like material) were found in the dark brown fine sand layer during the excavation in 1983. This layer is dated to Tang dynasty (618 to 907AD.) by C14 dating. Similar layer also existed in Shek Kok Tsui archaeological site in Tuen Mun, Tai Kwai Wan archaeological site in Cheung Chau Island and Tung Wan archaeological site in Ma Wan Island.

C7 - No artifacts are identified in this layer of mixture of yellow fine sand and light grey fine and coarse sand. Therefore, it is regarded as sterile layer where there is no archaeological potential.

TP2 - Description

TP2 is located at the southern margin of Ham Tin valley next to Chi Ma Wan Road. The area was agricultural field during the recently past. Table 6 shows the context data of TP2. The photographic record and the section drawing of TP2 are shown in Figures A and B.

Table H-6 TP2 context data

Contexts	Level (mPD)	Soil description	Remarks
1	4.93 to 4.72	filled soil, mainly soil	modern construction waste
2	4.71 to 4.50	filled soil, mainly fine sand	roof tiles and modern construction waste
3	4.49 to 4.20	yellow fine sand
4	4.19 to 4.11	dark grey fine sand	roof tiles, blue broken bricks, plastic straw blue-and-white porcelain, village ware shard and shells
5	4.10 to 4.04	yellow fine sand
6	4.03 to 3.77	dark grey fine sand	root tiles and shells , in the northern part of the pit stone alignment was found, it was a margin of field.
7	3.76 to 3.62	yellow fine sand,
8	3.61 to 3.41	grey fine sand
9	3.40 to 3.30	dark grey silty sand
10	3.29 to 2.28	light yellow fine sand	partly augered
11	2.27 to 1.55	light brown fine sand	augering hole
12	1.54 to 1.04	greyish brown coarse sand	shell fragment, augering hole