The Macao S.A.R. Government established an inter-departmental working group in 2009 to carry out a study on the overall planning of the core area of the Ruins of St. Paul’s and its surrounding area. The area previously occupied by four buildings used as civil servants’ quarters since the 1960s was thought to be within the boundary of St. Paul’s College because of its proximity to St. Paul’s Church. Therefore, the Institute of Archaeology of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (CASS) formed the joint archaeological team** to take charge of the archaeological work commissioned by the Cultural Affairs Bureau of the Macao S.A.R. Government, and archaeological surveys and excavations of the above area were carried out in phases from 2010 to 2012.
The result of the excavations was fruitful. It was preliminarily determined that the area where the archaeological work had been carried out belonged to the site of St. Paul's College. The remains of a large bedrock pit and rammed earth wall were found in the site, and a large quantity of construction materials, pottery and porcelain pieces were unearthed. These pieces, including many of the export porcelain of the late Ming to the early Qing dynasties, are of particular value to the studies of the layout of Catholic churches, construction techniques, Sino-Western cultural exchange, history of Sino-Portuguese trade, Macao’s role in the East Asian and global trade system in the late 16th to early 19th centuries. They are also important pieces of material evidence for the studies of Chinese export porcelain and the "Maritime Porcelain Road".
After analyzing the excavation records and unearthed remains, the archaeological team wrote this article as a preliminary report on the 2010 to 2012 archaeological excavation of the St. Paul's College Site of Macao.