A brick structure believed to date to the Qing Dynasty has been discovered inside the campus of an elementary school in Tainan’s Anping District (安平).
In June last year, the Tainan City Government and National Cheng Kung University jointly launch a project for research and education on Fort Zeelandia, also known as Anping Old Fort (安平古堡), as well as an ancient town inside the district.
By referencing historical materials and using topographical and archeological methods, researchers sought to understand what the city was like during its seafaring past.
Photo: CNA / Tainan City Government
Researchers carried out test excavations at Shihmen Elementary School and Anping Sword Lion Square (安平劍獅埕), an unnamed Tainan Municipal Administration of Cultural Heritage official said.
At Tainan Municipal Simen Experimental Elementary School, researchers searched for strata and unearthed items, the official said.
Based on historical materials and topographical findings, researchers believe that the two schools are on what would have been the shoreline in the 1640s, sources said.
The square is also inside what was once the ancient town, they said.
Researchers believe that if they can find a reference point for the old coastline and information about the ancient town, it would help recreate the “texture” and spacial distribution of the district over the past 400 years, they said.
Tainan is approaching its 400th anniversary, they added.
So far, the research team has found a brick structure believed to date back to the Qing Dynasty inside a trench in the northern part of Shihmen Elementary School’s campus, the sources said.
In the site’s south, it found what appeared to be strata similar to that which might appear near coastlines, they said.
Tainan Mayor Huang Wei-che (黃偉哲) on Wednesday visited the excavation site inside Shihmen Elementary School.
Fort Zeelandia is one of the most famous structures from the period of Dutch rule, which began in 1624.
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