近日，广州市黄埔区文物普查人员在长洲岛的北部上庄村名为牛蒡山的小山岗上发现一处清代外国船员墓群(以下简称“墓群”)。经初步勘探，该墓群包括墓碑11座，墓主均为清代来广州外国海员。
Recently, a cluster of gravesites belonging to foreign sailors from the Qing Dynasty was discovered on a small hill known as Niubang Hill in Shangzhuang Village, in Guangzhou's Huangpu District.
Preliminary explorations have revealed that the gravesite cluster includes 11 tombstones.
清代外国海员墓群1号墓
清代外国船员墓群8号墓
Grave No. 8
墓群所在地块被树木杂草掩盖。1号墓墓碑为花岗岩四面棱柱体，四面均刻有碑文，碑文漫漶不清。6、7、8号墓碑形制相同，因被推倒横卧于浮土之下，得以完好保存，英文碑文清晰可辨。4、11号墓碑已被从底部打断，上部不知去向，另5座墓葬的墓碑均为长方形，上部为弓形或弧形，各有不同程度的损坏。墓群东距柯拜船坞旧址120米。
The tombstone of Grave No. 1 is a granite quadrangular prism with inscriptions on all four sides, although the inscriptions are faded and difficult to read. Tombstones No. 6, 7, and 8 share the same design and, due to their conditions of being knocked over and lying horizontally under loose soil, have been preserved in good condition with clear English inscriptions.
保存完好的三块墓碑长度均在2.15-2.2米之间，宽度为0.64-0.68米之间。三块墓碑平行放置，成同一水平面。文物专家根据碑文发现，三位墓主均为美国东印度舰队波瓦坦号(POWHATAN)和万达利亚号(VANDALIA)的船员，安葬于1854年12月到1855年4月之间。
The three well-preserved tombstones measure between 2.15 and 2.2 meters in length and between 0.64 and 0.68 meters in width. The three tombstones are placed parallel to each other, forming a single horizontal plane. Cultural relics experts have discovered from the inscriptions that the three deceased were crew members of the USS Powhatan and Vandalia, both belonging to the East India Squadron, and were buried between December 1854 and April 1855.
清代外国船员墓群4号墓墓碑残件
Fragment of a tombstone from Grave No. 4
据史料记载，波瓦坦号(POWHATAN)和万达利亚号(VANDALIA)两船均参加了日本“黑船事件(1853年)”，之后来到黄埔。三位船员于1854-1855年相继去世并埋葬于此地。
According to cultural relics experts, the selection of the gravesite may have been hasty, as no other similar gravesites have been found nearby. Considering that the gravesite cluster is only 120 meters away from KebaiDock, it is possible that the gravesite cluster belongs to sailors who died while their ships were undergoing repairs at Kebai Dock.
据文物专家分析，墓群选址可能比较仓促，附近未发现其他同形态墓葬，考虑到墓群距柯拜船坞仅有120米，该墓群可能是舰船在柯拜船坞整修时去世海员的墓葬。
据悉，清代外国船员墓群是长洲街道继深井村外国人公墓之后发现的又一处外国人墓葬群。在距离该墓群约1200米的深井村竹岗山山腰，就有一处安葬着包括1847年去世的美国首任驻华公使亚历山大·义华业在内的外国人墓群。鸦片战争前后，长洲、深井一带水道深阔，是当时黄埔港的重要港区，船舶修造业十分发达，竹岗外国人公墓是清政府指定安葬外国人的公墓，安葬着因疾病和意外而死于广州的来华商人、船员和政府官员等。
It is reported that the Qing Dynasty foreign crew gravesite cluster is the second foreign gravesite cluster discovered in Changzhou Street, following the Foreigners' Cemetery in Shenjing Village. Approximately 1,200 meters away from the new gravesite cluster, on the waist of Zhugang Hill (commonly known as Ma'anshan or Fangui) in Shenjing Village, there is a Foreigners' Cemetery, where foreigners, including Alexander Hill Everett, the first American ambassador to China who died in 1847, are buried.
Around the time of the Opium War, the Changzhou and Shenjing areas featured deep and expansive waters, serving as important port areas of Huangpu Harbor. The shipbuilding and repair industry was highly developed in this region. Zhugang Foreigners' Cemetery was designated by the Qing government as a cemetery for foreigners, where businessmen, sailors, government officials, and others who died in Guangzhou due to illness or accidents were buried.