The projectile points at the Wansan site, Neolithic Taiwan

Summary

Wansan site is one of the late Neolithic sites in Northeastern Taiwan. In 1998, due to construction a large rescue excavation was conducted at the site and huge amounts of lithic and ceramic artifacts were uncovered. Among the lithic artifacts, most are finely ground tools, including projectile points, adzes, axes, knives, etc. This poster aims to analyze one specific tool: the projectile point. Three parts of analysis are demonstrated in this poster. First, I will introduce the projectile points uncovered from that excavation, including the types, raw materials and the distribution of these projectile points. Then, I will examine the broken pattern of these projectile points spatially. In the end, I will investigate the rich ethnographic data in Taiwan to discuss the functions of the projectile points in traditional indigenous societies. In conclusion, I will try to infer how Neolithic Wansan people might use these projectile points and the possible meaning of these different projectile points.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 81st Annual Meeting, Orlando, FL (2016)

Keywords

Spatial Coverage