A Bronze Age rock carving in eastern Hong Kong Island was declared a monument by the Antiquities Authority on Friday, along with a temple in Wan Chai and an ancestral hall in northern New Territories.

The rock carving at Cape Collinson, dated around 3,000 years old, has geometric and curved patterns that closely resemble those on Bronze Age artefacts and eight other Hong Kong rock carvings previously declared monuments.

A warning sign to visitors was put up near the site in Cape Collinson, according to the authority.

William Meacham, an archaeologist specialising in South China and rock carvings, said the site was one of the largest and most visually impressive Bronze Age rock carvings ever found in Hong Kong, along with others in Po Toi, Big Wave Bay and Tung Lung Chau.

View photos Location of the rock carving at Cape Collinson declared a monument. Photo: Handout More

“They are impressive and beautiful in design, quite abstract. It’s hard to know exactly what they mean. But they were very meaningful to the people who did them, the Bronze Age people who lived here,” he said.

Once a landmark is declared a monument, the Antiquities Authority can prevent alterations or impose conditions upon any proposed alterations to protect the monument. Currently, there are 123 declared monuments in Hong Kong.

The carving is about 160cm high and 260cm wide.

The second declared monument, Yuk Hui Temple in Wan Chai, was built by the local residents in 1862, the first year of the Tongzhi reign in the Qing dynasty. The temple worships Pak Tai, the god of the sea in Taoism.

View photos Pak Tai and other worshipped deities in the rear hall of Yuk Hui Temple. Photo: Handout More

View photos Yuk Hui Temple. Photo: Handout More

The characters “Yuk Hui Temple” on the granite lintel of the main entrance were written by Zhang Yuyang, the then commodore of the Dapeng Brigade stationed at the Kowloon Walled City, according to the authority.

The third monument declared was the Hau Mei Fung Ancestral Hall in Sheung Shui, close to Shenzhen. The hall was built in late 18th century by Hau Cheuk-wan and has since been used as a family worshipping hall and for dealing with matters concerning the Mei-fung branch, according to the authority.

This article Bronze Age rock carving at Hong Kong’s Cape Collinson and two Qing dynasty buildings declared monuments first appeared on South China Morning Post

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