The discovery of the Chuping site was a complete coincidence.

In October, 1980, Chen Chung-yu, an associate research fellow at the Institute of History and Philology at the Academia Sinica, while participating as a member of the hiking team in the self-strengthening activities of the central government agencies, was heading toward the Nantou mountain area. As he approached the Chuoshui stream near the village of Wanfeng in the Jenai district, he discovered many prehistoric stone implements. His instinct told him that he had hit the jackpot. He busied himself scooping up pieces of rock and pottery.

After returning to Taipei, he suggested a field study, and, after approval, undertook a research design "An Archaeological Study of the Upstream Area of the Chuoshui Stream." The scope included most of the area of the Chuoshui in Jenai district, covering about 20 kilometers between Wuchieh village and Chingkuan village.

In the space of a year 19 sites with prehistoric relics were discovered. A location at Wangwei stream two kilometers north of the Chuping tribe of the Bunung aboriginal people of Wanfeng was selected. The place is called Qais in Bunung, meaning "the territorial limit." A search was tried, turning up artifacts as expected. Chen Chung-yu then chose the name Chuping for the site.

Three digs were held between November 1981 and August, 1987. The area of the digs came altogether to about 3,700 square meters. More than 29,000 implements were uncovered, with most being stone axes. Others included knives, arrow heads, rings, spinning wheels (all made of stone) and shuttles.

Besides these, there were about 80,000 pieces of pottery material, mostly being red tsu-sha (rough sand) pottery, while a small number were polished with fine mud surfaces. A smaller number still had designs or writing.

Chen Chung-yu says that from the axeheads we can know that the original residents of Chuping were people of the Neolithic age, and already had fixed planting agriculture. The Chuping artifacts are of a complete settlement. The remains of houses, with stone foundations, of a rectangular shape, built on a north-south line, are very clear. There are also 171 stone coffins, most laying east-west. Among them, many of the smaller coffins are buried indoors, but no skeletons remain.

In order to verify the era in which the Chuping people lived, Chen sent more than 20 samples of charcoal abroad for carbon-14 dating. Most were discovered to be remains from 1,000 to 2,750 years ago.

Given these artifacts, Chen surmised that the location could have two or more layers, and that perhaps several groups of culturally similar people lived there one after another. But there is no way to estimate the numbers of people. The stone implements made by the people of those times are numerous, verse in type, and well-crafted.

However, the level of their arts was somewhat wanting. The picture designs are not good. Personal jewellry or accessories were also few. This may be because they lived in the mountains, cut off from cultural exchange and stimulation, and did not stress decorative arts.

According to models derived from archaeological traces of movement, most immigrants tend to find places to live similar to where they came from. The aborigines came from south mainland China by way of Malaysia; their language is Polynesian. The similarity of places can serve as additional evidence in the future.

Chen notes that the Chuping artifacts prove that some aborigines, known literally in Chinese as "people of the mountain lands," really did originally live in the mountains. Since carbon dating places them there 1,000 to 2,750 years ago, they were not forced there by the immigration of Han Chinese in the Ching dynasty.

Unfortunately, after being dug up the artifacts were left in the open, where some were covered by grass or swallowed up by mud and dust. Fortunately Chen reached into his own pocket to hire workmen to keep the site in decent condition. Chuping was declared a Third Class Relic by the Ministry of the Interior, and assigned to the Jenai government for management. But there has been no sign of any maintenance, and even the compensation payment to the landowner hasn't come down yet--eight years after the landowner and the local government agreed to the amount--leaving Chen feeling quite unhappy.

There is now a fence around the site, making it harder for people and animals to get in. But there's no stopping the wind and rain. It is Chen's hope to turn the area into an open-air museum.

[Picture Caption]

(above) Chen Chung-yu, associate research fellow at the Institute of History and Philology at the Academia Sinica, who is implementing the research design for the Chuping site, hopes the area can be turned into an open-air museum.

(below) Every shard of rock embodies something of the history of the peo ple of Chuping.

There are many clear remnants of stone foundations of houses.

(above) Various related units will discuss the Chuping artifacts and their fate.

(below) Chen Pen-shan of the Bunung aborigines, who owns the land above the Chuping site, hopes that the problem of land compensation can be resolved soon.

According to scholars' estimates, perhaps two or more groups of similar culture resided at Chuping at different times.

（above） Chen Chung-yu, associate research fellow at the Institute of History and Philology at the Academia Sinica, who is implementing the research design for the Chuping site, hopes the area can be turned into an open-air museum.

（below） Every shard of rock embodies something of the history of the peo ple of Chuping.

（above） Various related units will discuss the Chuping artifacts and their fate.

（below） Chen Pen-shan of the Bunung aborigines, who owns the land above the Chuping site, hopes that the problem of land compensation can be resolved soon.

According to scholars' estimates, perhaps two or more groups of similar culture resided at Chuping at different times.