User:Pghod/sandbox

Insular Southeast Asia is known as one of the most beautiful regions on earth today. When people immerse themselves into the various cultures that are apart of Southeast Asia, they find that influences from colonialism have shaped the native people’s perspectives and ways of life. For example, Singapore has been colonized by British influence, and has resulted in adaptation to their culture. Through this adaptation, colonization from Britain has allowed the native people of Singapore to develop interest in finding their roots through archaeological excavations. Archaeology in Singapore is relatively new, with excavations beginning in the 20th century. The findings, however, have dated back to ancient China.

Taking it back to the beginning of colonization, Stamford Raffles of Britain colonized Singapore in 1819. He identified the island as a choice for a new port, and began negotiations with the ruler of the land at the time, the Sultan of Johor. Upon agreement, a treaty was signed and modern Singapore was born. Not until 1824 did the entire region of Singapore land in Britain’s possession. In 1826, Singapore was included in the Straits Settlements, which were a larger collection of Southeast Asian countries that were made British colonies. Before Raffles’ discovery of Singapore, the population consisted of about one thousand indigenous Malay people and a considerable amount of Chinese. Trade and export became a huge part of Singapore, and through this was once considered the main place for trading and exporting by the British. The people of Singapore had then acclimated the surrounding culture, allowing them to adopt British mannerisms and ideologies which are still valid in modern Singapore. World War II prompted a change in ruling for Singapore. The Japanese army aimed to take over and through battle won the territory. Originally, the British had planned to liberate Singapore in 1945, but the conquering from Japan had changed those plans. The Japanese eventually surrendered, and Singapore was now under rule by the British, Indian, and Australian forces. The post-war period was a bit tumultuous, with violence and chaos erupting from within. The failure of Britain to successfully defend Singapore had destroyed their credibility and trust. After a decline in order of the country, the infrastructure and economy started to steadily rise with the rising demand of tin and rubber from other regions.

Interest in Singaporean Archaeology had not risen until 1984, but there was a long history of findings by Raffles himself upon first contact with the land. He discovered abundant remains of ancient settlement, with ruins of buildings made from brick, Chinese antiques and remains dating back to the ninth century. What these findings confirmed was the following of ancient Malay tradition and culture. Due to lack of interest, this was not pursued or investigated further, even after the discovery of stone tools in the 1890s and ancient jewelry in 1920s. 1984 was the year when the National Museum of Singapore was interested and received a grant from a Dutch petroleum company to begin a ten-day excavation. The site of interest was Fort Canning, Singapore, where an artillery fort had been built in 1858. The hill also was the site of an ancient palace which existed when Britain landed there in 1819. The most common items found within this excavation were ancient Chinese porcelain pottery and stoneware from the Yuan Dynasty. Evidence of ancient Singapore economy and trading had been found when bronze Chinese coins were discovered, the main form of trade during pre-colonial times. These bronze coins served as a wider piece of evidence for the growth of metals in Southeast Asia, proving the heavy use of iron, copper, and gold, especially in Fort Canning. Items used in daily life were found as well, among the most popular were Chinese cast iron pans, commonly known as woks. Copper used in Singapore was found to be exported from another Southeast Asian country, most likely Sumatra. Pottery was found to be one of the biggest forms of art in ancient Singapore. It was admired so much that pieces of pottery were included in burials of the people living in Singapore.