7900-Year-Old Human Skeleton Unearthed in Matsu
Source: Taipei newspapers April 2, 2012
Last December, Chen Chung-yu (陳仲玉), a research fellow from the Institute of History and Philology (IHP) of the Academia Sinica, excavated a complete human skeleton dating back to 7,900 years ago, in Liang Island (亮島), a military-controlled area in the Matsu Island chain, with the assistance of the ROC Defense Ministry and the Lienchiang County government. The excavated human skeleton has tentatively been dubbed “Liangdao man (亮島人)” and called a remarkable discovery in Taiwan’s archeological history as it is not only the earliest human skeleton discovered in Taiwan, but also the earliest New Stone Age human bones unearthed in the Minjiang River Area (閩江流域). In addition, the skeleton may be the earliest Austronesian language family (南島語族) human remains ever excavated, according to media reports.
Chen Chung-yu, the leader of the Matsu archaeological team, said that the “Liangdao man” skeleton was complete, consisting of a clearly distinguishable skull, four limbs, sternum, clavicle, and scapula.
According to a study done by an archeological team led by Chiu Hung-lin (邱鴻霖), a professor from National Tsing Hua University, the human skeleton was that of a 160-165 cm tall male, aged 30-35.
The “Liangdao man (亮島人)” skeleton was excavated from the “Dao-wei No. 1 (島尾一號) relic site, who had been interred with his legs bent upwards to his chest. Body-bent burial (屈肢葬) is an ancient way of burying the deceased with legs in a fetal position. Up until a century ago, Taiwan’s aborigines still followed this burial custom.
Chen Chung-yu said, “Liangdao man (亮島人) is not only the earliest skeleton ever unearthed in the body-bent burial custom in Taiwan, but also the earliest in the Austronesian language family tribes (南島語族). The most famous skeleton excavated in the body-bent burial custom was found in the relic site ‘Shihsanhang (十三行)’ in New Taipei City dated back over 1,000 years. However, the Liangdao man (亮島人) can be dated back to approximately 8,000 years.”
After the Liangdao man (亮島人) skeleton was excavated from Cave No.1 at the “Dao-wei No.1 (島尾一號)” relic site on December 19, 2011, it was moved to the Matsu Folk Customs and Culture Museum for study. Last week, the ROC Council for Cultural Affairs (CCA), sent officials to Matsu to study the excavation achievements. CCA stated that it would designate experts to clean the skeleton and do a three-dimensional scan in order to reconstruct the image of Liangdao man (亮島人).