An international team of researchers has discovered a 6,000-year-old skull and femur bones in a mountainous cave.
The island of Taiwan (Formosa) was inhabited by people fromAustronesian peoples during the last five millennia long before the arrival of the Spanish and Dutch in the 1620s and Han Chinese settlers in the 1660s. Although the island is considered a classic Austronesian habitat, local legends often mention rare encounters with "small and dark-skinned people" living in the remote mountains.
The skull of a dwarf woman found in Taiwan. Image: Hsiao-chun Hung et al., World Archeology
Despite the spread of these legends,Since then, not a single material evidence of the existence of this ancient people has been found. During a recent study, archaeologists discovered a skull and leg bones in a cave that have been dated to around 6,000 years ago, before the ancestors of the people who now inhabit the island arrived.
By studying DNA from the skull, researchers discoveredthat it is close to African samples from approximately the same time period. In addition, the size and shape of the skull was found to be reminiscent of the Negritos who lived in parts of modern South Africa and the Philippines.
The study of the bones left in these places,showed that they were rather short and had a small body size. The femurs found next to the skull belonged to the same person as the skull, a young woman. According to researchers, her height was about 1.3 m.
Skull and bone (top right) and ancient tools and household items found during excavations. Image: Hsiao-chun Hung et al., World Archeology
The researchers suggest that their findingsconfirm the existence of ancient people in Taiwan, but do not explain what could have happened to them. Probably most of them had already disappeared by the time the first Austronesians arrived, but separate groups continued to exist. In particular, one of the legends claims that the locals destroyed the last ancient people about a thousand years ago.
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