Taiwan Today

Relics some 400 to 500 years old and the remains of three bodies were unearthed at the end of 2009 in Changhua County's Caiyuanjiao, marking the first time that human remains from Taiwan's prehistoric era have been unearthed in the Changhua plain. Archaeologists have theorized that the location could have constituted a small-scale common burial area. The burials, with the heads pointing in a north-northeasterly direction, are an extremely important discovery in further understanding the culture of the people of that time. The layout of the three bodies points to prone burials, with the hands on either side of the bodies. Two of them were preserved in quite an intact state, and one of them had three shell beads near his or her waist. Other unearthed items included shell mounds and the remains of a fireplace. The shell mounds are considered to be refuse piles. There are also large amounts of pottery shards, bones from pigs and deer, as well as fish bones and turtle bones. The fireplaces are thought to have been used for cooking; scorched areas of earth were also found. Researchers are currently working on organizing the interiors of the possible dwellings of the people at the time. DNA tests on the bones found will also be conducted. Kuo Su-chiu, an assistant research fellow at Academia Sinica's Institute of History and Philology, said the culture exhibited in the remains found at Caiyuanjia belongs to the latter period of the Fanzaiyuan culture. These are the latest remains from the late prehistoric era in the Changhua plain and could have close connection to the Mazhilin Village of the Pingpu tribe as described in Dutch archives (De Dagregisters van het Kasteel Zeelandia) from the 17th century. However, more research is needed in this respect to confirm this. The human relics were accidentally discovered in February 2009 by workers constructing the southern outer ring road in Fuxing Township in Changhua County. Unfortunately, the remains had already been seriously damaged by the time construction was shut down. Guo was called upon to come to the site to take charge of the digging. Guo said it was quite common for bodies to be buried in a prone state in the Fanzaiyuan culture in central Taiwan, with the hands being placed next to the body or crossed behind the back, adding that academics still have not been able to come up with a theory to explain this burial practice. (This article originally appeared in “The Liberty Times” April 5.)