Ancient human remains found in Hualien in early January are about 1,000 years old, carbon-14 dating tests have shown.
Human teeth found among a set of bones dug up from the sewers in Hualien were sent to the US for tests. The remains were returned to Taiwan on Wednesday, with test results showing that they are between 910 and 1,050 years old, the Hualien Department of Cultural Affairs said
The bones were found when the city government was carrying out operations in the sewers, Hualien Department of Cultural Affairs Director Chen Shu-mei (陳淑美) said.
When the find was reported to the Hualien City Police Department, it requested that the coroner perform an examination, Chen said, adding that department officials also attended the examination.
The department had removed the upper left incisor tooth and the upper left canine tooth from the remains and sent them to the US to be carbon dated early last month, Chen said.
The site where the remains were unearthed also yielded five pieces of shattered pottery, which are suspected to be affiliated with the Jingpu Culture (靜浦文化), Chen said, adding that the area was probably populated by Aborigines, possibly Amis (阿美).
The Jingpu Culture is an iron-age culture that existed in eastern Taiwan, dating from 1,500 years ago to between 200 and 300 years ago.
The area were the remains were found — near Guofu 16th Street — was the site of an Aboriginal village, Chen said, adding that ancient bones had been found in the vicinity previously.
The city government is looking for biological anthropology experts to assist its efforts to clean and organize the bones, Chen said.
The department hopes to discover the age of the remains at the time of death and whether the person was from an agricultural or sea-faring society, Chen said.
The local government is also hoping to unearth more historical relics from the area in the hope of shedding light on the important cultural history of Hualien a millennium ago, Chen said.
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