- Chinese Name: 十三行博物館
- Located at: New Taipei City (Northern Taiwan)
- Year of Establishment: 2003
- Did You Know That… ?
- In the autumn of 1955, Air Force officer Pan Ko-yung (空軍少校潘克永) noticed that the compass in his aircraft was deflected up and down by a magnetic force as he flew over the southern bank of the Tamsui River estuary. He was the first person to realize there was more than what meets the eye in the region.
- English Address:
- No. 200 Bowuguan Road, Bali District, New Taipei City, Taiwan (R.O.C.)
- Contact Number: +886-2-2619-1313
- Opening Hours: 9:30 AM to 5 PM (Closed on Mondays)
- Website:www.sshm.tpc.gov.tw(Available in English)
The Shihsanhang Museum of Archaeology is dedicated to the lost Shihsanhang culture, the likely ancestors of the Ketagalan aborigines. The museum is built on the excavation site and the building itself was awarded the 2002 Taiwan Architecture Prize.
Iron slaglead the way
When archaeologists began excavation of the site in 1957, they found iron slag, the by-product of ferrous smelting, as well as a rich amount of pottery and iron implements, and several burial areas. The strong evidence pointed to a group of people who resided at the site in the prehistoric Iron Age, sometime between 1,800 and 500 years ago. Since the site was located at Dinggu Village, also known as Shihsanhang Village during the Qing Dynasty, the site was named the Shihsanhang Site.
The relics, which were left in place at the site following standard convention, resurfaced in the public's eye when the government announced a plan to build a sewage treatment plant over the site in 1989. A one-year extension was granted for excavation work, but only about ten percent of the relics were unearthed, and the rest were buried beneath the plant.
Prehistoric residents of New Taipei
The incident eventually drove the government to pass regulations declaring that no construction can be conducted in a site where any archaeological relics are found. The Shihsanhang Museum of Archaeology was also established to give the public a glimpse of prehistoric life in New Taipei City.
Through comprehensive analysis of unearthed human bones, DNA analysis has identified their physical status: the standard height of the Shihsanhang male was nearly 165 centimeters while the females averaged 155 centimeters tall. The study also showed that the life expectancy was about 33 years.
Moreover, most of the corpses in the burial sites were found facing the ocean. One school of thought suggests that the people might have come from overseas, and the custom of laying the dead out symbolizes their hope of returning to their homeland.
Among the unearthed pottery, an anthropomorphic jar with a single handle, angled shoulders, and a foot rim was the most unique artifact. The jar is also one of the few jars decorated with a human face found in Taiwan, and only one anthropomorphic piece was unearthed in the Shihsanhang site.
In addition to the human-faced pottery, the glass beads, utensils and coins found in the site also caught the archeologists' attention. They were evidence that the residents of the area had a close trading relation with Chinese civilians, as the coins can be traced back to the Han Dynasty to Tang Dynasty, and with people from Southeast Asia where the glass beads were widely used.
Mastering dogs and iron
Apart from the bones of terrestrial animals, the discovery of fossils of large marine animals such as whales and sharks suggested that the Shihsanhang people were capable of long-range fishing. The researchers also found all animal remains but dog bones were fragmented, suggesting that the Shihsanhang people had domesticated canine pets.
The Shihsanhang people are the earliest people found to have possessed iron-smelting technology in Taiwan, as evident by the unearthed furnaces. Many archeological sites reveal that prehistoric groups in Taiwan used iron utensils, yet no furnaces or iron slag have been found. It is likely that people in other areas were not capable of smelting iron and traded with the Shihsanhang people for iron goods. The site also reveals a rudimentary concept of urban design, as their work site for iron smelting was hundreds of meters away from their living and sleeping quarters.
Honoring the rescue mission
In addition to displaying the unearthed relics, the museum has also developed a Rescuing Shihsanhang section to recall the petition efforts against the sewage treatment plant construction. Visitors can see examples of news coverage in 1990s and protestors' banners, including a warning sign urging the public not to invade the site to steal the relics. A model of a backhoe from the time is also displayed at this section, signifying the fact that archeologists remained on site even as backhoes were moving in to dig up and destroy the area.