Unraveling Neolithic Cultures in the Taipei Basin through Pottery Technology at Tzufakung

Summary

This is an abstract from the "SAA 2024: Individual Abstracts" session, at the 89th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

The Taipei Basin holds archaeological significance, particularly in illuminating the Neolithic era in Taiwan. The sites of Yuanshan and Botanical Garden each represent distinct Neolithic cultural phases. However, the coexistence, contemporaneity, or transition between Neolithic cultures has been a subject of debate.

The nationwide site survey, commissioned by the Ministry of the Interior, unveiled extensive sites across the Taipei Basin. Unfortunately, due to a lack of excavation, most materials gathered lack well-defined contexts. The Tzufakung site, strategically positioned between the Yuanshan and Botanical Garden sites, assumes particular importance in elucidating the relationship between these two distinctive cultures. The extensive surface collections encompass pottery sherds from both cultures, rendering it an ideal case study.

This research employs typology, thin-section petrography, X-ray Fluorescence (XRF), and Scanning Electron microscopy (SEM) to examine pottery technology at Tzufakung. Its primary objectives are identifying the origin of pottery, and characterizing production techniques to shed light on interaction and cultural influences. The results explore the potential of pottery and its production to address enduring debates among Neolithic cultures and lay the groundwork for the application of scientific methodologies to other uncontexted pottery to enrich our understanding of technological development and cultural exchanges during this period.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• SAA 2024: Individual Abstracts   •
• Society for American Archaeology 89th Annual Meeting, New Orleans, LA (2024)

Keywords

Spatial Coverage

Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 38583.0