When archeologist Liu Yi-chang (
Digging 3m deep into the park's Liuyi Plaza, however, what Liu found instead was an "interesting surprise" -- some broken pottery pieces that go back 4,500 years.
The artifacts dated from the Hsuntangpu Culture (
It is the second-oldest culture whose archeological remnants have been found in Taipei City, after Tapenkeng Culture (
"It's interesting to be able to find historical remains in the Taipei basin, crowded with so many buildings," Liu said yesterday in the plaza.
Showing 11 pieces of pottery and a stone pestle found on Dec. 30 and Dec. 31, Liu said the pottery could have been used as pots, while he believes the pestle was used to crack nuts.
Other prehistoric archeological sites in Taipei are those of the Chihshanyen Culture (芝山岩文化) and Yuanshan Culture (圓山文化) from the late Neolithic Period. Liu said that prehistoric residents of the Taipei basin had lived in Dalongdong and had later moved to the Chihshanyen and Yuanshan sites.
Sites from the Hsuntangpu Culture have also been found in Kaohsiung and Tainan, and even in the Philippines, he added.
With the latest finding in the plaza, the department called for an immediate halt of a reconstruction project at the adjacent Taipei Municipal Dalong Elementary School.
The school was planning to renovate its parking lot, part of a larger reconstruction project to expand the property of the school.
The project was part of a plan to establish the Datong Culture Park, which will bring together Baoan Temple, Dalong Elementary School and the Confucian Temple into one unit.
The Cultural Resources Preservation Act (
Lee Cheng-hsun (
Lee Yung-ping (李永萍), the incoming director of the department, shared Liu's excitement yesterday at the site, while promising to restore the area's "traditional flavor" during her term.
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