Focus Taiwan
Date: 2016/04/29
By: Tyson Lu and Kay Liu
The excavation of a site in Taitung City that holds artifacts from a period 2,300 to 5,300 years ago in Taiwan led to the establishment of the National Museum of Prehistory in 2001.
The site, spread over an estimated 80-100 hectares, was discovered after the construction of a new railway station began in 1980 and is the largest archaeological site ever found in Taiwan.
In an excavation area of around 10,000 square meters, more than 20,000 pieces of jade, pottery and stone tools, and 1,600 slate coffins were unearthed.
One of the jade designs, depicting two people carrying an animal aloft, was found in some of the coffins and is believed to have been an earring. The design was adopted as the museum’s emblem. [FULL STORY]