On the Cultural Contents and Settlements of Northern Taiwan’s Prehistoric Peoples

摘要

This paper makes use of the most recent archaeological data to examine and present the lifestyles at prehistoric settlements of northern Taiwan,in order to understand the developmental changes in the appearances of cultural contents and settlement patterns of these prehistoric cultures of northern Taiwan over several thousand years.On the basis of current archaeological data,it is clear that Shuntanpu Early Culture,Shuntanpu Late Culture,Yuanshan Culture,Botanical Garden Culture,and Shihsanhang Culture all had stilt-type(raised-platform)housing.Wooden pillars were erected in round holes of approximately 10-20 cm(though some are larger)dug into the earth,gravel layer,or sandstone bedrock,and it is surmised that these were then made more stable by packing small stones or ramming earth into the holes around the pillars.Coming to the long-standing controversy as to the origins of the Shihsanhang Culture,Shihsanhang Culture clearly inherited important content from the prehistoric cultures that inhabited northern Taiwan over the previous several thousand years and represents the developmental evolution of northern Taiwan archaeological cultures.One other aspect:Shihsanhang Culture has a stronger maritime character.Not only did it have frequent contacts with other contemporaneous archaeological cultures in Taiwan,but also conducted trading interactions with people in China and Southeast Asia,shaping Shihsanhang’s complex and unique cultural appearance.