The Beinan Archaeological Site

The site came to light in 1980, when work on a railway station cut into it, and the excavation that followed produced the largest and most complete prehistoric settlement found in Taiwan: stone house foundations laid out in rows, storage pits, and more than 1,600 graves, most of them slate slab coffins buried beneath the floors, many with jade ornaments still in place. The people who lived here worked jade on a scale that reached far beyond the island. Some 20,000 jade, pottery and stone objects were recovered. The ground, opened as a park in 1997, has an exposed excavation area under cover and reconstructed house frames on the grass, while the finds themselves are held at the national prehistory museum a few kilometres away.

What you'll find

• The covered excavation - slate coffins and foundations left exposed in the ground.
• Reconstructed houses - timber and slate frames built to the excavated plans.
• The jade ornaments - earrings and beads from the burials, displayed at the museum.
• The park setting - open ground above Taitung with the coastal range behind.

When to go

October to April for comfortable walking, since Taitung is hot from May and the park has limited shade. The excavation shelter is open through the day and takes about an hour. The prehistory museum needs a separate half day and has its own closing day, so plan the two together rather than assuming one visit covers both.

Good to know

There is not a great deal to look at: an excavation trench under a roof, some reconstructions and interpretive boards, with the actual objects held elsewhere. English labelling is limited. Visiting the park without the museum is unsatisfying, and the two are a taxi ride apart. This is a site for people already interested in the subject rather than a spectacle.

Nearby

The national prehistory museum is nearby and the Rift Valley road begins north of the city.

Key facts