TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Ongoing excavations and archeological analysis at the Taidoukeng Culture Site in Chiayi City have revealed variations in burial practices of the region’s neolithic inhabitants in comparison to nearby archeological sites in Tainan.

Archeological analysis of the Taidoukeng site, south of the Taiwan Railways Chiabei Station, began in 2021, when excavations for a railway project revealed ancient human remains, reported CNA. To date,13 tombs have been found in the area, with five complete or near-complete skeletons in a relatively good state of preservation.

Two of the skeletons have been dated to a period between 2,500 and 2,700 years old, the remains of a man aged around 35 and a woman aged around 20. Both were buried in a prone position, with their arms lying over their backs.

The other burial sites at Taidoukeng also feature skeletons buried in a prone position. In Chinese culture, superstitions exist regarding prone burials as evil or unlucky; however, the researchers in Chiayi have cautioned that this particular ancient group, which predates Chinese culture in Taiwan, likely did not share the same rituals and practices, per UDN.

Yen Ting-yu (顏廷伃), an expert on prehistoric civilization in Taiwan heading the research, held a recent conference on the archeological study. She said that all but one of the 13 tombs features bodies buried on an east-west axis, with heads pointing west, while the group's outlier is positioned on a north-south axis.

This aspect of the Taidoukeng Cultural site starkly contrasts with burial practices in two other late neolithic cultural sites, specifically the Tahu culture in the Tainan-Kaohsiung area and the Chingshui culture group found in the Taichung area.

At Tahu cultural sites, bodies were typically buried on a north-south axis, with the head pointed north. The Chingshui burial sites, somewhat more recent than the Tahu sites and the Taidoukeng site, generally feature bodies buried on an east-west axis, though most have their heads pointed east, per UDN.

While many unanswered questions remain, these varying burial trends in late neolithic cultures in Taiwan likely suggest divergent religious practices and multiple ethnic groups competing and intermingling in Taiwan’s ancient past.

One interesting feature of a male skeleton at Taidoukeng was the presence of red mineral stains on his teeth, which researchers believe is good evidence that chewing betel nut was a common cultural practice even as far back as 2,500 years, per CNA.

The archeological analysis, commissioned by the Taiwan Railways Corporation (formerly the Taiwan Railways Association), is being conducted by experts from the Museum of Archeology at the Tainan Branch of the National Museum of Prehistory.