Peinan Archaeological Site Gives Prehistoric Insight (Taiwan)

Taiwan Journal ^ | 11-10-2006 | Alexander Chou

[blam]

Peinan archeological site gives prehistoric insight

By Alexander Chou, Taiwan Journal staff writer

Until recently, little was known about the histories and cultures of Chinese Taipei's Austronesian aborigines and, in particular, about their relationships with the island's ancient inhabitants.

Discovery of the Peinan site in southeastern Taiwan, and the associated artifacts unearthed and interpreted by archaeologists, have proved invaluable in making up some of this deficiency. To help educate visitors about the island's prehistoric past, many of the key finds are now exhibited in the National Museum of Prehistory. Located in Taitung City, a major aboriginal conurbation, the NMP also takes every opportunity to present links to today's population, and offer a window on the Austronesian-speaking peoples that cover a large part of the earth's surface from Madagascar off the coast of Africa to Easter Island in the eastern Pacific, and from New Zealand in the south to Hawaii and Taiwan in the north.

If it were not for the unearthing of the buried prehistoric site, Peinan would probably be known to most young people only as the birthplace of pop diva Chang Hwei-mei--aka A-mei--and to most other locals as the name of a township and of one of the island's 12 officially recognized Austronesian ethnic groups. Known in Mandarin as Beinan and in English as Pinuyumayan or Puyuma, and with a population of around 10,000, it is one of Chinese Taipei's smaller aboriginal groups.

Excavation of the site was started in 1944 by archaeologists Takeo Kanaseki and Naoichi Kokubu at the tail end of the period of Japanese rule. Even though the dig was very small in scale, the pair quickly recognized the site's importance. Nevertheless, excavation halted following Japan's withdrawal from Taiwan, and did not resume immediately under the island's new rulers, the Kuomintang-led ROC administration.

Thirty-five years passed until in July 1980, during construction of the Peinan East Line Railway Station, prehistoric remains of great interest were revealed. Numerous slate coffins--dating from a Stone Age culture of around 3000-500 B.C.--containing exquisite artifacts as well as skeletons were excavated, attracting great public and media interest and, unfortunately, looting.

National Taiwan University archaeologist Sung Wen-hsun was delegated to form the Peinan Culture Archaeology Team, which unearthed 1,500 slate coffins and numerous of other artifacts over the next 10 years. After another decade of planning and a total investment of around US$100 million, the NMP opened in August 2002. Archaeologists' most striking discovery was that the slate coffins were all arranged with their heads pointing toward the northeast and feet to the southwest. One theory is that the coffins pointed to Dulan Mountain, where the newly dead would be greeted by their ancestral sprits.

The museum's standing exhibition combines education with entertainment, and includes items of interest to domestic and overseas visitors alike. Almost all information is presented in English as well as Chinese, as are the video presentations that appear throughout the museum.

"Even guided tours in English can be arranged for foreign visitors," proudly claimed Pasuya Poiconu, the museum's director, who is also a former vice minister of the Council of Indigenous People. Indeed, in 2005, the NMP became the first museum in Chinese Taipei to pass the ISO-9001 standard for quality of service. It also received the Best English Environment Award from the Executive Yuan. Poiconu believes that "internationalization is a prerequisite, if the museum wishes to play an active role in promoting the Austronesian culture in Taitung."

The much-publicized 2006 Austronesian Festival held July 15-30 was one of the many ideas brought to fruition by the NMP and the Taitung County Government to boost the local tourism industry. "Just merely displaying artifacts will no longer meet visitors' ever-growing demands," said Poiconu, a Tsou aborigine from the Futuja tribe at Alishan, Chiayi County, when discussing his plans to turn the NMP from merely the site of passive exhibitions into "a museum in action."

Austronesian performers from five foreign countries--Palau, Malaysia, the Philippines, New Zealand and Fiji--participated in the festival, as did more than 40 indigenous performing groups from Chinese Taipei. The festival also included a dyeing and weaving exhibition, which introduced dresses and costumes from the Bishop Museum in Hawaii, alongside clothes in rich colors and patterns gathered from nine of Chinese Taipei's 12 recognized ethnic groups. The "action" theme was provided by an Austronesian fashion show and an Austronesian song composition contest.

Upcoming NMP projects include a display of some Peinan site artifacts at Taitung's Feng-nien Airport and a major exhibition introducing Maori artifacts from New Zealand.

All of this began with the accidental discovery of a cultural site dating back around 5,000 years, but which should keep Poiconu, his staff of 50, and their countless visitors busy for a good while to come.

[blam]

a window on the Austronesian-speaking peoples that cover a large part of the earth's surface from Madagascar off the coast of Africa to Easter Island in the eastern Pacific, and from New Zealand in the south to Hawaii and Taiwan in the north.

These people really got around in ancient times.

[blam]

GGG Ping.

[blam]

Lapita pottery

A human face stares from these remnants of Lapita pottery, dated 1000 BC. They come from the Santa Cruz group of islands, south-east of the Solomon Islands. Around 3000 BC ceramic-making peoples appeared in Taiwan. Taiwanese pottery was red-slipped but otherwise plain. Over the next 1,500 years their descendants moved south and south-east towards Near Oceania. In the Bismarck Archipelago these Austronesian peoples mixed with the indigenous inhabitants and the Lapita culture, with its distinctive pottery, emerged. Lapita pottery had surface decorations; these motifs probably already existed in tattoos.

[blam]

New Lapita Find Re-dates Known Fiji Settlers (Jomon/Ainu?)

[TXnMA]

Great post, Blam!

Wonder if these folk have any relationship to aboriginal Ainu on Japan's northern island of Hokkaido...

[blam]

"Wonder if these folk have any relationship to aboriginal Ainu on Japan's northern island of Hokkaido..."

That's kinda my thinking.

[SunkenCiv]

Thanks Blam.

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[JimSEA]

Thanks for the ping. I just started reading "The Seven Daughters of EVE" on the plane from LAX to BKK so the timing coulddn't be better. The pottery is spectacular!!!

[SunkenCiv]

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