In: Pilloud MA & Hefner JT, editors. Biological Distance Analysis: Forensic and Bioarchaeological Perspectives. New York: Elsevier, pp. 447-461., 2016
Two multivariate statistical procedures, stepwise discriminant function analysis and Mahalanobis’... more Two multivariate statistical procedures, stepwise discriminant function analysis and Mahalanobis’ distance, are applied to nine mandibular measurements recorded in Neolithic (Nankuanli East site) and Iron Age (Shihsanhang) Taiwanese and comparative series from East and Southeast Asia and the Pacific for assessing the population history of Taiwan and the origin of Polynesians. Taiwan’s role as the homeland of a Neolithic expansion of Austronesian-speaking agriculturalists, an expansion that would eventually extend from Madagascar in the west to Polynesia in the east, is examined. The results of this biological distance study indicate that Neolithic and Iron Age inhabitants of Taiwan are more closely related to cranial series form Northern Asia than to each other. While Iron Age Shihsanhang reveals connections with some of the Pacific Island series, the earliest Neolithic Inhabitants of Taiwan are unrelated to the inhabitants of Remote Oceania. Larger and additional samples, including Taiwan’s recent Indigenous groups, will sharpen future research.
Keywords: Biological distance, discriminant function analysis, Mahalanobis’ distance, Neolithic Taiwan, Nankuanli East, Iron Age Taiwan, Shihsanhang, Polynesian origins, Neolithic expansion
Archaeological investigations in the eastern coastal region of Taiwan have been carried out for a... more Archaeological investigations in the eastern coastal region of Taiwan have been carried out for a long time, but they have not unearthed large amounts of plant remains. Because of this, archaeologists have used stone knives and sickles, known through ethnographic analogy to be prehistoric agricultural harvesting tools, as a proxy for the existence of cereal agriculture. Based on their presence, cereal agriculture is conjectured to have started ca. 4,000 years ago during the Cord-marked Pottery Culture period, but through the present day our understanding of the development conditions of prehistoric rice agriculture remains limited. However, we can consider this in relationship with the situation on the west coast of Taiwan, where in recent years archaeological excavations have unearthed much carbonized rice, demonstrating that rice agriculture was already in use 4,800 years ago. Contemporaneously with this we can see east coast jade circulating to the west coast, and so from the point of view of the circulation of material culture, even though there still has been no discovery of rice grain evidence on the east coast, perhaps west coast rice had already disseminated to the east coast? This line of thought leads us to recognize the need to find rice evidence on the east coast as soon as possible, as well as evidence for the type of rice. Although ancient rice in Taiwan was once thought to have originated in prehistoric cultures of central China based on stone knife typology, and excavated carbonized rice remains lean toward the Keng (Japonica) variety, when archaeological data of recent years and molecular biology research point toward the middle and lower Yangtze River
This study examines the health and lifestyle of some of Taiwan’s earliest Neolithic inhabitants u... more This study examines the health and lifestyle of some of Taiwan’s earliest Neolithic inhabitants using skeletons from the Nankuanli East (NKLE) site (ca. 5000-4200 BP) from the Tainan Science Park (TSP) in southwestern Taiwan. Two indicators of health, cribra orbitalia and adult stature, and evidence of dental staining are reported for the first time. Comparisons between males and females, and between the early Neolithic Taiwan, Iron Age Taiwan (Shihsanhang site), and with skeletal series from surrounding regions of East and Southeast Asia are made. The estimated average stature, using non-ethnic formulae, is 160.1 cm for males and 154.7 cm for females from the Nankuanli East site, statures that are similar to the statures of indigenous Taiwanese and other prehistoric inhabitants from surrounding regions. Twenty-five percent of the adult individuals from Nankuanli East exhibit cribra orbitalia (CO), a childhood indicator of health that is not significantly different between males and females. Approximately 75% of male and 52% of female teeth exhibit some type of staining, a difference that is statistically significant. Although taphonomic processes, such as the mineral content of the soil, may account for the observed dental staining, the dental profile suggests that the staining may be due to chewing betel (areca) nut. Comparisons with Iron Age skeletons from the Shihsanhang site, once again, do not support the prediction of a decline in health during the transition from early Neolithic to Iron Age Taiwan. Overall, the similarities in health between the early Neolithic and later Iron Age inhabitants of Taiwan indicate similar subsistence economies based on marine and terrestrial resources. Further studies of the skeletons from the Nankuanli East site and other sites in the Tainan Science Park will improve our understanding the health and lifestyle of Taiwan prehistoric inhabitants.
Keywords: Nankuanli East, Tainan Science Park, Neolithic and Iron Age Taiwan, stature, cribra orbitalia, tooth staining
This study introduces, for the first time, data recorded in some of the oldest Neolithic skeleton... more This study introduces, for the first time, data recorded in some of the oldest Neolithic skeletons from Taiwan and investigates biocultural implications of changes in subsistence in the earliest Neolithic and later Iron Age Taiwan. Human skeletons from two archaeological sites in Taiwan are included. The first skeletal series is from the Nankuanli East (NKLE) site (n = 23 individuals) located in the Tainan Science Park, Tainan City in southwestern Taiwan. The NKLE skeletons are associated with the Tapenkeng culture (ca. 5000 years BP), the earliest Neolithic cultural sequence in Taiwan. The second skeletal series from Taiwan is from the Shisanhang (SSH) site (n = 23 individuals), an Iron Age site (ca. 1800-500 years BP) located in northwestern Taiwan. The main objectives of this study are to 1) document selected indicators of oral/dental (antemortem tooth loss - AMTL, dental caries, alveolar resorption, alveolar defects, dental calculus, and dental attrition) and physiological (linear enamel hypoplasia-LEH) health in the NKLE skeletons, 2) examine differences between male and female NKLE skeletons, 3) compare health in the early Neolithic and Iron Age Taiwan, and 4) place the prehistoric skeletons from Taiwan in a broader regional perspective. A relatively high frequency of LEH (51.3%), an indicator of infant and childhood health, was observed in the NKLE adult anterior teeth, indicating there was significant childhood stress experienced by the earliest Neolithic inhabitants of Taiwan. Relatively low frequencies of AMTL (0.3%), dental caries (1.9%), and alveolar defects (1.0%), and moderate levels of alveolar resorption (8.8%) and dental calculus (8.3%) were observed in the NKLE skeletons. Contrary to expectations, no significant sex differences were observed for most of the indicators of health observed in the NKLE series. However, compared to adult females, the frequency of advanced attrition was significantly higher in adult males, a differencethat is likely related to age, diet, and subsistence practices. Overall, the dental health of the NKLE skeletons was good. Also contrary to expectations, the frequencies of childhood stress (LEH), dental caries, AMTL and alveolar defects are similar in the NKLE and SSH series. Significantly higher frequencies of dental calculus and alveolar resorption are noted in the SSH series, consistent with the transition to advanced food processing techniques. The frequency of advanced dental attrition (7.9%) in the NKLE skeletons was higher than in SSH skeletons suggesting use of teeth as tools in the early Neolithic and an increased reliance on softer more processed foods and the use of metal tools in the Iron Age. Although not statistically significant, the higher frequency of LEH (51.3%) observed in the NKLE skeletons compared to those from the SSH site (37.1%) suggests improvement in childhood health in the Iron Age. Overshadowing the mostly minor differences, many of which may be attributed to differences in diet, hygiene, and cultural practices, is the overwhelming similarities in dental health between the early Neolithic and later Iron Age skeletons. The evidence presented in this study confirms archaeological evidence that the prehistoric inhabitants of both sites shared a similar subsistence economy broadly based on farming, fishing and the hunting and gathering of marine and terrestrial resources. Regional comparisons of dental health indicators suggest the earliest Neolithic inhabitants of Taiwan experienced more childhood physiological stress (LEH) than that observed in other series. Overall, the frequencies of several indicators of oral infection (e.g., AMTL, dental caries, and alveolar defects) in the NKLE and SSH skeletons are among the lowest reported indicating good dental health for Taiwan's prehistoric inhabitants, a finding that may also reflect a non- agricultural subsistence economy or diets low in starch and sugars and/or the cariostatic nature of marine diets. Given the small samples used in this study, these conclusions must be viewed with caution. Future research, involving additional skeletons from the Nankuanli East site as well as other sites from Taiwan, will expand on the research reported in this study.
In this study, we examine the health and way of life of some of Taiwan's earliest Neolithic p... more In this study, we examine the health and way of life of some of Taiwan's earliest Neolithic peoples through studies of skeletons from the Nankuanli East (NKLE) site. The NKLE site is one of three oldest sites (ca. 4500-5000 BP) identified during salvage excavations in 2002-2003 in the Tainan Science Park (TSP) in Shanhua District, Tainan City, in southwestern Taiwan. Approximately 82 extended and supine burials and extensive archaeological materials including pottery, ornaments, shell-bracelet funerary objects and the remains of domesticated and wild animals were recovered from this site. The main subsistence base of these early Neolithic peoples included extensive marine exploitation, hunting, and collecting of wild plant resources as well as early farming involving the cultivation of small grains, root and fruit crops. The presence of foxtail millet has also been identified for this site. Twenty-three (15 male and 8 female) of the most complete and well-preserved burials from ...
In: Pilloud MA & Hefner JT, editors. Biological Distance Analysis: Forensic and Bioarchaeological Perspectives. New York: Elsevier, pp. 447-461., 2016
Two multivariate statistical procedures, stepwise discriminant function analysis and Mahalanobis’... more Two multivariate statistical procedures, stepwise discriminant function analysis and Mahalanobis’ distance, are applied to nine mandibular measurements recorded in Neolithic (Nankuanli East site) and Iron Age (Shihsanhang) Taiwanese and comparative series from East and Southeast Asia and the Pacific for assessing the population history of Taiwan and the origin of Polynesians. Taiwan’s role as the homeland of a Neolithic expansion of Austronesian-speaking agriculturalists, an expansion that would eventually extend from Madagascar in the west to Polynesia in the east, is examined. The results of this biological distance study indicate that Neolithic and Iron Age inhabitants of Taiwan are more closely related to cranial series form Northern Asia than to each other. While Iron Age Shihsanhang reveals connections with some of the Pacific Island series, the earliest Neolithic Inhabitants of Taiwan are unrelated to the inhabitants of Remote Oceania. Larger and additional samples, including Taiwan’s recent Indigenous groups, will sharpen future research.
Keywords: Biological distance, discriminant function analysis, Mahalanobis’ distance, Neolithic Taiwan, Nankuanli East, Iron Age Taiwan, Shihsanhang, Polynesian origins, Neolithic expansion
Archaeological investigations in the eastern coastal region of Taiwan have been carried out for a... more Archaeological investigations in the eastern coastal region of Taiwan have been carried out for a long time, but they have not unearthed large amounts of plant remains. Because of this, archaeologists have used stone knives and sickles, known through ethnographic analogy to be prehistoric agricultural harvesting tools, as a proxy for the existence of cereal agriculture. Based on their presence, cereal agriculture is conjectured to have started ca. 4,000 years ago during the Cord-marked Pottery Culture period, but through the present day our understanding of the development conditions of prehistoric rice agriculture remains limited. However, we can consider this in relationship with the situation on the west coast of Taiwan, where in recent years archaeological excavations have unearthed much carbonized rice, demonstrating that rice agriculture was already in use 4,800 years ago. Contemporaneously with this we can see east coast jade circulating to the west coast, and so from the point of view of the circulation of material culture, even though there still has been no discovery of rice grain evidence on the east coast, perhaps west coast rice had already disseminated to the east coast? This line of thought leads us to recognize the need to find rice evidence on the east coast as soon as possible, as well as evidence for the type of rice. Although ancient rice in Taiwan was once thought to have originated in prehistoric cultures of central China based on stone knife typology, and excavated carbonized rice remains lean toward the Keng (Japonica) variety, when archaeological data of recent years and molecular biology research point toward the middle and lower Yangtze River
This study examines the health and lifestyle of some of Taiwan’s earliest Neolithic inhabitants u... more This study examines the health and lifestyle of some of Taiwan’s earliest Neolithic inhabitants using skeletons from the Nankuanli East (NKLE) site (ca. 5000-4200 BP) from the Tainan Science Park (TSP) in southwestern Taiwan. Two indicators of health, cribra orbitalia and adult stature, and evidence of dental staining are reported for the first time. Comparisons between males and females, and between the early Neolithic Taiwan, Iron Age Taiwan (Shihsanhang site), and with skeletal series from surrounding regions of East and Southeast Asia are made. The estimated average stature, using non-ethnic formulae, is 160.1 cm for males and 154.7 cm for females from the Nankuanli East site, statures that are similar to the statures of indigenous Taiwanese and other prehistoric inhabitants from surrounding regions. Twenty-five percent of the adult individuals from Nankuanli East exhibit cribra orbitalia (CO), a childhood indicator of health that is not significantly different between males and females. Approximately 75% of male and 52% of female teeth exhibit some type of staining, a difference that is statistically significant. Although taphonomic processes, such as the mineral content of the soil, may account for the observed dental staining, the dental profile suggests that the staining may be due to chewing betel (areca) nut. Comparisons with Iron Age skeletons from the Shihsanhang site, once again, do not support the prediction of a decline in health during the transition from early Neolithic to Iron Age Taiwan. Overall, the similarities in health between the early Neolithic and later Iron Age inhabitants of Taiwan indicate similar subsistence economies based on marine and terrestrial resources. Further studies of the skeletons from the Nankuanli East site and other sites in the Tainan Science Park will improve our understanding the health and lifestyle of Taiwan prehistoric inhabitants.
Keywords: Nankuanli East, Tainan Science Park, Neolithic and Iron Age Taiwan, stature, cribra orbitalia, tooth staining
This study introduces, for the first time, data recorded in some of the oldest Neolithic skeleton... more This study introduces, for the first time, data recorded in some of the oldest Neolithic skeletons from Taiwan and investigates biocultural implications of changes in subsistence in the earliest Neolithic and later Iron Age Taiwan. Human skeletons from two archaeological sites in Taiwan are included. The first skeletal series is from the Nankuanli East (NKLE) site (n = 23 individuals) located in the Tainan Science Park, Tainan City in southwestern Taiwan. The NKLE skeletons are associated with the Tapenkeng culture (ca. 5000 years BP), the earliest Neolithic cultural sequence in Taiwan. The second skeletal series from Taiwan is from the Shisanhang (SSH) site (n = 23 individuals), an Iron Age site (ca. 1800-500 years BP) located in northwestern Taiwan. The main objectives of this study are to 1) document selected indicators of oral/dental (antemortem tooth loss - AMTL, dental caries, alveolar resorption, alveolar defects, dental calculus, and dental attrition) and physiological (linear enamel hypoplasia-LEH) health in the NKLE skeletons, 2) examine differences between male and female NKLE skeletons, 3) compare health in the early Neolithic and Iron Age Taiwan, and 4) place the prehistoric skeletons from Taiwan in a broader regional perspective. A relatively high frequency of LEH (51.3%), an indicator of infant and childhood health, was observed in the NKLE adult anterior teeth, indicating there was significant childhood stress experienced by the earliest Neolithic inhabitants of Taiwan. Relatively low frequencies of AMTL (0.3%), dental caries (1.9%), and alveolar defects (1.0%), and moderate levels of alveolar resorption (8.8%) and dental calculus (8.3%) were observed in the NKLE skeletons. Contrary to expectations, no significant sex differences were observed for most of the indicators of health observed in the NKLE series. However, compared to adult females, the frequency of advanced attrition was significantly higher in adult males, a differencethat is likely related to age, diet, and subsistence practices. Overall, the dental health of the NKLE skeletons was good. Also contrary to expectations, the frequencies of childhood stress (LEH), dental caries, AMTL and alveolar defects are similar in the NKLE and SSH series. Significantly higher frequencies of dental calculus and alveolar resorption are noted in the SSH series, consistent with the transition to advanced food processing techniques. The frequency of advanced dental attrition (7.9%) in the NKLE skeletons was higher than in SSH skeletons suggesting use of teeth as tools in the early Neolithic and an increased reliance on softer more processed foods and the use of metal tools in the Iron Age. Although not statistically significant, the higher frequency of LEH (51.3%) observed in the NKLE skeletons compared to those from the SSH site (37.1%) suggests improvement in childhood health in the Iron Age. Overshadowing the mostly minor differences, many of which may be attributed to differences in diet, hygiene, and cultural practices, is the overwhelming similarities in dental health between the early Neolithic and later Iron Age skeletons. The evidence presented in this study confirms archaeological evidence that the prehistoric inhabitants of both sites shared a similar subsistence economy broadly based on farming, fishing and the hunting and gathering of marine and terrestrial resources. Regional comparisons of dental health indicators suggest the earliest Neolithic inhabitants of Taiwan experienced more childhood physiological stress (LEH) than that observed in other series. Overall, the frequencies of several indicators of oral infection (e.g., AMTL, dental caries, and alveolar defects) in the NKLE and SSH skeletons are among the lowest reported indicating good dental health for Taiwan's prehistoric inhabitants, a finding that may also reflect a non- agricultural subsistence economy or diets low in starch and sugars and/or the cariostatic nature of marine diets. Given the small samples used in this study, these conclusions must be viewed with caution. Future research, involving additional skeletons from the Nankuanli East site as well as other sites from Taiwan, will expand on the research reported in this study.
In this study, we examine the health and way of life of some of Taiwan's earliest Neolithic p... more In this study, we examine the health and way of life of some of Taiwan's earliest Neolithic peoples through studies of skeletons from the Nankuanli East (NKLE) site. The NKLE site is one of three oldest sites (ca. 4500-5000 BP) identified during salvage excavations in 2002-2003 in the Tainan Science Park (TSP) in Shanhua District, Tainan City, in southwestern Taiwan. Approximately 82 extended and supine burials and extensive archaeological materials including pottery, ornaments, shell-bracelet funerary objects and the remains of domesticated and wild animals were recovered from this site. The main subsistence base of these early Neolithic peoples included extensive marine exploitation, hunting, and collecting of wild plant resources as well as early farming involving the cultivation of small grains, root and fruit crops. The presence of foxtail millet has also been identified for this site. Twenty-three (15 male and 8 female) of the most complete and well-preserved burials from ...
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Papers by Kuangti Li
Keywords: Biological distance, discriminant function analysis, Mahalanobis’ distance, Neolithic Taiwan, Nankuanli East, Iron Age Taiwan, Shihsanhang, Polynesian origins, Neolithic expansion
Keywords: Nankuanli East, Tainan Science Park, Neolithic and Iron Age Taiwan, stature, cribra orbitalia, tooth staining
Keywords: Biological distance, discriminant function analysis, Mahalanobis’ distance, Neolithic Taiwan, Nankuanli East, Iron Age Taiwan, Shihsanhang, Polynesian origins, Neolithic expansion
Keywords: Nankuanli East, Tainan Science Park, Neolithic and Iron Age Taiwan, stature, cribra orbitalia, tooth staining