An island country with evidence of human habitation from Neolithic times. The excavated artifacts suggest an influence from northern Chinese Stone Age cultures, most notably the Lung-shan. Before the British occupation, Hong Kong Island was inhabited only by a small fishing population. Hong Kong was firmly incorporated in the Chinese cultural sphere in the late Chou and Han Dynasties (late 1st millennium BC). The earliest sites in Hong Kong date from about 3500 BC and belong to Yueh coastal Neolithic. There was geometric-stamped pottery during the 2nd millennium BC.