Archaeology in Singapore

Archaeology in Singapore is a niche discipline. Although there is generally a lack of government support for archeological work, many artifacts have been unearthed at sites around the island, helping to give a clearer picture of Singapore's history, both before and after Stamford Raffles' landing in 1819.

The first site excavation was carried out in 1984 by John N Miksic (then with Gadjah Mada University in Yogyakarta, Indonesia) at Fort Canning. Since then, places where site surveys have been carried out include:

There have been site excavations in these areas:

At Fort Canning, the oldest archaeological site in Singapore, many artefacts dating back to the 14th century have been uncovered, including ceramics from the Yuan Dynasty period, Indian glass beads, Chinese porcelain ware and copper coins.

Although Fort Tanjong Katong, whose construction started only in 1879, was much newer than Fort Canning, a number of artifacts have also been unearthed there. 36 bags of marine ecofact and coral samples were collected from the site and have been sent to the Raffles Museum of Biodiversity Research at the National University of Singapore (NUS) for analysis. Significant parts of the fort, which was demolished after World War I, were also found in situ.

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.

...
Wikipedia