It is difficult to put ancient Singapore in its proper context because we have no comparable data from other sites in Southeast Asia. Was Singapore larger or smaller than other Asian cities of its time? Wealthier or poorer? Busier or quieter? Until more sites of this period are located and subjected to similarly intensive and systematic research, we cannot answer these questions. A quarter-century of archaeological research in Singapore has given us a comprehensive view of an ancient city unparalleled in Southeast Asia, and matched by few fourteenth- century urban areas in any part of the world.