Looking back into prehistory, the Taiwan of long ago was a place where many ethnic groups frequently came and went. The earliest was the Changpin Culture from 30,000 to 5,000 years ago. Afterwards came the Peinan Culture, which left the Pacific Rim's largest prehistoric burial site, and then there was Southern Taiwan's Tsaohsieh-tun Culture, whose artifacts are said to mark the beginnings of agricultural life on this island. In addition there is Taipei's Yuanshan Culture site, where large numbers of shell mounds show that Taipei was once a land of lakes and marshes; and there are the Shih San Hang relics that come from the beginning of the age of metal.

Currently in Taiwan there is no complete record of the number of prehistoric sites that have been found, though there are over one thousand. It is estimated there were some 14 prehistoric cultures in Taiwan; and the relics they have left resound with the footsteps of the ancients. Among the sites are many stone monoliths and sarcophagi. More than 2,000 stone sarcophagi of the Peinan culture have already been unearthed.

(opposite page) The custom-made stone sarcophagi hold the remains of people from prehistory, as well as a large number of exquisitely made jade artifacts.

Stone monolith culture

Over 100 years ago, at the beginning of Japan's occupation of Taiwan, Japanese anthropologists discovered stone monoliths arranged in rows in the area of today's Taitung City. Some of these monoliths measure four and a half meters tall. Who made these monoliths and what was their purpose? Are these related to the monolith cultures found in other parts of the world? These are the questions that archaeologists ponder.

In 1945, toward the end of the Japanese occupation, Japanese archaeologists risked conducting a small excavation and discovered the remains of structures around the monoliths. In 1980, during the construction of the South-Link Railway and the building of the Peinan train station, a large number of stone sarcophagi and funeral objects were uncovered. Carbon 14 testing showed these artifacts to be between 2,000 and 5,000 years old.

"The Peinan relics are located on Taiwan's largest and most completely preserved archaeological site. It provides us with a rich representation of how Neolithic people once lived, which is rarely seen anywhere in the world," points out Tsang Chen-hua, the head of Taiwan's National Museum of Prehistory. According to estimates, the site of the Peinan artifacts has a total area of more than 80 hectares, with the richest area comprising about 30 hectares. For ten years archaeologists have painstakingly excavated ten thousand square meters, which is still but a small portion of the total area. The rest is still buried beneath what is today called Peinan Culture Park. The dig hints at what a huge settlement this once was.

Last year, for the sake of protecting the site and the cultural relics unearthed, the National Museum of Prehistory was established four kilometers from the dig to display the most important of the many relics found. The site was also designated as the Peinan Culture Park to protect it from harm.

(above right) This human-animal jade ornament attests to the advanced artistry of the Peinan culture. (photo by Vincent Chang)

Ancient treasures

For ten years the archaeologists have worked to save the prehistoric artifacts, afraid that the site might be destroyed by the construction of the South-Link Railway. Probing and digging, carefully cleaning and recording what was found at each layer, they have brought to the surface a settlement buried for thousands of years. Large and small sheets of black slate pressed together to form a floor, gravel piled to form a stone wall, round storage cellars. . . it is easy to imagine the rooms of a house and how these ancient people lived.

Groups of stone sarcophagi lie one level further down. Over 2,000 have been uncovered. The sarcophagi appear to be individually constructed and are all oriented northeast-southwest and facing Mt. Tulan. Most of the sarcophagi contain one body laid out straight and facing upwards. A few of the sarcophagi hold the remains of several people, up to fifteen, who are possibly the members of a clan buried together over time. The biggest difference among the sarcophagi is the number of fine funerary items found, which indicate differences in social status.

The Peinan relics have received so much attention not just for their scale and completeness-they also raise questions about how these early people acquired the slate. Moreover, the sarcophagi also contain many finely made items of jade, which says a great deal about the culture and the intelligence of these people.

At the Peinan Culture Park's on-site excavation area, archaeologists, equipped with small spades and brushes, kneel within each pit and carefully remove the soil from around the relics. Next to the site, workers clean the thousands of pieces of pottery and stone tools that have been removed.

The workers carefully handle each piece of rock. "Whatever you do, don't underestimate the importance of this slate. It was not dug from the nearby coastal mountains. It comes from the central mountains, quite a distance away, which is an important clue in judging these relics," explains Yang Shu-ling, a research assistant for the Culture Park. How did these people from prehistory enter the central mountain areas, and using simple tools, bring such large pieces of stone to the coastal Peinan area? Researchers conjecture that they used the Luyeh River to transport the slate.

The museum also houses a very special "human-animal jade ornament," which has the form of two humans whose heads are connected by an animal shape, conveying a sense of communication between humans and animals. The ornament is exquisitely made and it is valued as a national treasure. Similar jade ornaments have appeared at archaeological sites in southern and northern Taiwan. The people of Taiwan's prehistory may have had commercial contacts and perhaps marital ties. The large number of jade artifacts that have appeared at the Peinan site include bracelets, trumpet-shaped armlets, tubes, bells, and hairpins. The level of artistry is a sight to behold.

Prehistory in Every Step

Standing in the Peinan Culture Park's observation tower and looking about, you see an expanse of green grass that's like a mat. "Walking over this ground you realize that just below is a human settlement from 2,000 to 5,000 years ago!" The National Museum of Prehistory's Tsang Chen-hua hopes that people bring a little imagination when they visit Peinan Culture Park.

The artifacts tell us that this once was a flourishing riverside settlement. The ancient people of Peinan would transport slate from the Luyeh River, and store it at their settlement for further processing. They would travel to the coastal mountain ranges and gather soft volcanic rock to chisel into large stone mortars, or to Hualien and find raw jade to produce their exquisite ornaments.

Living in communities, the Peinan people raised millet, hunted, and used stone to make tools. A custom was for adults to remove their canine teeth, and 95% of the remains are missing two canine teeth. Relatives who passed away would be buried in the area of their homes, so that their spirits would keep company with the living.

The artifacts of Taiwan's earliest inhabitants answer many questions about their lifestyles, but many other questions remain. Where were they from? How are they related to the aboriginal peoples in Taiwan today? The Peinan Culture is not just a part of Taiwan's prehistory but of that the whole Austronesian language group.