For Mainlanders, ocean might be the great wall standing on the horizon. But for the people who lived on the island, the ocean is much more the road than the barrier between land and land. In Shih San Hang Site, archaeologists have discovered many items which were overseas and came from a foreign country, such as Chinese coins, camel bronze plague, glass bangles, agate beads came from India and so on. These discoveries show that Shih San Han people played an important and active role in the trade of East Asia. According to the Chinese historic documents, Han merchants loved to trade beads, agates, gold, pottery bowls, china, cloth, salt, and bronze ornaments for sand gold, soy beans, sulfur, bee wax, deer, Neofelis nebulosa and its fur, with these islanders. The archaeological evidences which are excavated in the Shih San Hang Site have proved the existence of oceanic trade system. Beyond the trade, we can also discover the meaning transition of material culture. Since the ancient state of China was the super political and economical power in the ancient East Asia, the Chinese coins played an important role as the common currency in the international trade system. But in Shih San Hang Site, many of the excavated Chinese coins had been punched a hole and taken as the decoration of the necklace. Modern Taiwanese, especially those who have studied or spent time in western countries, envy the food culture of foreign countries and always complain that it is never easy to enjoy a pure foreign cuisine in a local restaurant. “Every detail of the meal has been localized!” But if we consider the Taiwanese history and Chinese coins found in Shih San Hang Site, maybe we could say that “localization” is the main theme of the culture of this island.

The Chinese Coin (Kai Yuan Tong Bao) excavated in Shih San Hang. Please notice the small aperture on the Chinese letter “Kai”(開). Courtesy by the Institute of History and Philology, Academia Sinica.

The Camel Bronze plague excavated in Shih San Hang Site. Camel is not the protozoan of Taiwan. But the topic of this bronze plague is obviously a camel, and that was the reason why archaeologists suggest this plague is an imported good. Courtesy by the Institute of History and Philology, Academia Sinica.

The Glass Bangle excavated in Shih San Hang Site. So far, there is no archaeological evidence related to the local glass industry in the prehistory stage of Taiwan. This glass bangle might come from a foreign country, too. Courtesy by the Institute of History and Philology, Academia Sinica.

The agate beads excavated in Shih San Hang Site. The Origin of agate is in Mid Asia and India. These beads might travel for thousands of miles and finally became the treasure of Shih San Hang people. Courtesy by the Institute of History and Philology, Academia Sinica.

The Shih San Hang people had spent thousands of years in their homeland which was located in the frontier of the Formosa Island and the Pacific Ocean. Their language and legend had gone and disappeared in the trend of history. Only little clue could be found in the surrounding written materials left by the foreign Chinese historians. We could say that without the archaeologists’ excavation and research, the life and culture of Shih San Hang people would never be understood by us. Under the cooperation and research between the archaeology, anthropology and history, the historic stage of Formosa will be lighted up again. The lost memory of people who lived in the island and ocean will be recalled and known by the people around the world.

Web Resources:

Digital Knowledge of Historical and Cultural Heritages developed in the Institute of History & Philology – Archaeological Data

http://archeodata.sinica.edu.tw/

Digital Knowledge of Historical and Cultural Heritages developed in the Institute of History & Philology – Archaeological Database

http://ndweb.iis.sinica.edu.tw/archaeo2_public/

Shih San Hang Museum