Excitement with recent discovery of several artifacts at Central Police Station in Kuching

I was equally excited with the discovery of several artifacts, including a glass pill bottle believed to have been made in London back in the 1880s, which were found during excavation works for a sewerage project in the compound of #Kuching Central Police Station this morning. 

It is learnt from our State Museum Department officials that most of the discoveries were in the form of pottery either from China or Europe and possibly from the Middle East.  These artifacts were brought back to the Museum Department so that they can perform an analysis to see the background history and the year when they were made. According to our Museum Department deputy director, Dayang Morzanah Awang Haddy, they had received a report on the findings from the Public Works Department (JKR).

In view of this, she said a site study work is being carried out by the department’s Archaeological Unit. Under the Sarawak Heritage Ordinance 2019, any findings by the general public in the form of old artifacts must be reported to the Sarawak Museum Department or a report to be submitted to the department immediately.

Among the studies being done are on the land and cultural layers found at the discovery site as well as the history of the construction of the police station itself to determine whether there were old settlements or rivers in the area. Back in 2018, excavation works carried out around Padang Pasir which is nearby our Masjid Bahagian Kuching had also led to the discovery of old railway tracks.