摘要
This is a report of a minor excavation at Tien-liao-yuan site. Located 0.5 Km. west of the village of Tien-liao, Chi-chi District, Nan-t'ou Prefecture, and on the lower terrace of the north bank of the Cho-shui River, the site was first dicovered by Dr. Liu Chi-wan and Prof. Liu Pin-hsiung in 1954, and relocated by Mr. Huang Shih-chiang in 1972.
In an attempt to explore the exact nature of the site as well as to solve several problems in the prehistoric cultural history of west-central Taiwan, the author carried out a minor excavation at Tien-liao-yuan with the assistance of Mr. Sun Pao-kang and Mr. Liu Yi-ch'ang, from late-June to mid-July, 1976.
Fifteen test pits were excavated. The stratigraphic contex at this site is not complex. In general, it can be described as three zones:
a) a top layer representing the area of modern cultivation;
b) a grayish brown layer of soil, which is associated with the majority of the prehistoric cultural remains, and
c) a culturally sterile layer of clay and gravel.
It is clear that only one component is present at Tien-liao-yuan. A large amount of pottery and stone artifacts was uncovered. Pottery at this site was predominantly plain red with gross sand, but most of them had been broken into small pieces. From the shape of these sherds the original vessels are considered to take the form of a round pot with flaring rim and converging neck. Stone artifacts unearthed included such types as chipped and polished hoe-axes, chipped knives, polished knives with perforations, polished azes and chisels, chipped and polished arrow heads, polished awls, grinding stones, hammerstones, pendants, etc. Among these types, the tools for cultivation and harvesting were the most numerous. This suggests strongly that the major economic activity of the prehistoric people of Tien-liao-yuan was agricultural. In addition, a very interesting discovery was three glass beads from the upper level of the prehistoric cultural layer.
Four charcoal samples were submitted for radio carbon dating. The resultant dates are: 1960 ± 57 B.P. (NTU-289). (All are 5730 ± 40 half-life)
Based on the analysis of the cultural remains uncovered and the chronological evidence, the author is able to further discuss the following problems in this report:
1. the cultural nature and affinities of the Tien-liao-yuan site,
2. the exact nature of the Plain Red Ware Culture and its position in the prehistoric chronology of west-central Taiwan,
3. the geographic distributions of the prehistoric sites in the middle Cho-shui River valley and
4. the possible connections between the culture represented by Tien-liao-yuan and the aboriginal groups in Taiwan.